


Yuto Adachi and the Cold Close

by Wyckyd



Series: The Yuto Adachi Series [1]
Category: K-pop, Pentagon (Korea Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Magic, Alternate Universe - Not K-Pop Idols, Alternate Universe - Urban Fantasy, Boarding School, Characters based off of real people but not a depiction of that person, Curse Breaking, Curses, Eventual Romance, Gen, POV Yuto Adachi, School children curse break better than staff for plot reasons, They attend an international boarding school, This school is more dangerous than reported, UwU fuck JKR, Young Adult-esque fantasy adventures, Yuto Adachi-Centric
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-19
Updated: 2021-01-23
Packaged: 2021-03-04 03:41:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 26,926
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24867016
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wyckyd/pseuds/Wyckyd
Summary: Yuto finally gets to follow in his older siblings' steps of going off to get their magical education!  He thought he was going to be a regular, average, run-of-the-mill wizarding student: friends, clubs, a hex gone wrong here and there, exams, maybe a love life, everything par for the course of being exactly like his 3 older siblings.Yet, as Yuto's first year at Wuxia Magic Academy was shaping up to be as average as average can be, the school becomes afflicted with a curse the professors seem unable to break. Follow along as Yuto discovers himself to be a much more capable wizard than he ever imagined.
Series: The Yuto Adachi Series [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1799362
Comments: 2
Kudos: 13





	1. The First Step

**Author's Note:**

> Just as some clarification, in verbal dialogue I'll use the eastern naming convention, i.e. Surname then given name, but in the narration I'll use western convention. I apologize for any confusion due to this, but as this is written in English I figured this was the best way to honour both!
> 
> In case there's any confusion, I will say this again: FUCK JOANNE ROWLING. I am not working with her, I am not associated with her, and I absolutely detest her, especially regarding her transphobia, racism, and antisemitism. I understand that for more people it's probably hard to associate HP with anything other than JKR, but HP will always be a story of overcoming obstacles and deciding your own fate for me. I am writing my own story and now I hope that I can stand on my own legs :)

The sun rose, its lively rays gently filtering into the bedroom of a young child. The wallpaper was of a lush forest that was bewitched to have the trees sway gently, sometimes cute little creatures that were just as flat as the trees would poke their heads out from behind the trees before scurrying back to the safety of shadows. Age 12, Yuto Adachi lay asleep on the lower bunk he shared with his sister who was asleep on the top bunk. He was a young, thin boy, and he had read the neatly folded letter which lay open on his nightstand many times.

_Dear Adachi Yuto,_

_We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted to the Wuxia Magic Academy! We aim to give our students a comprehensive study of magic, hone their abilities, and see the application of themselves to help the community and world at large._

_On the 14th of April please make your way to the western port on Fukue Island. Takahama Beach House will have their teleportation glyphs open at 6:00 a.m. if you wish to arrive this way. The ferry departs exactly at 07:07; if you are unable to make this time please send a return letter no later than the 1st of April so we may arrange a different method of transportation for you._

_Attached is a list of books and equipment that you will need to bring with you to the academy._

_We look forward to the next 6 years having you under our tutelage._

_Yours sincerely,_  
_Haruta Tatsuko,  
_ _Head Priestess of Wuxia Academy._

Yuto had hardly let go of the parchment since it had finally arrived at the end of February, keeping it on his person around the house, as if he couldn’t believe he was accepted. He would finally be going to a magic school! Elementary school in Japan was fully integrated with magunai students, students who displayed no magical abilities and had no magical heritage; this was to allow students enough time to display any possible latent abilities, although most already knew by the third grade. Then, starting at the junior high levels, magical students began training at magical academies while magunai students continued on with their regular students.

Magic was an open secret - magunai people knew of magic and the magical community, but the magical community preferred to stay in their own “gated community” and use protective enchantments to ward away magunai people, often citing this as a safety measure for magunai people.

Most of Yuto’s magical peers had applied to Tsuruga Magaku, the top magic academy in Nagano that was a combined junior and high school, along with cram school for elementary school students that already began their magical studies. Yuto stood outside of Tsuruga with his friends looking at the board for accepted students, cheering with them when they saw they had been accepted and consoling those who didn’t. Yuto had already received his letter of acceptance from Wuxia and he was excited about his enrollment there, so he convinced himself that there was no need to check the board for if he’d been accepted to Tsuruga.

He had been accepted.

To be honest, his excitement towards Wuxia felt a little hollow, he still was feeling... a sense of wonder? The feeling of an adventure beginning? He was feeling _something_ , but he wasn’t quite sure what that something was. Dampening his spirit a little was the fact that his heart was set not on Wuxia, but on Tsuruga, ever since he was 6 years old when his oldest brother Hajime began attending there. Two years later, his other brother Tooru also enrolled at Tsuruga. His older sister Akari and him even attended Tsuruga for their nightly cram school after regular school to begin learning the basics of magic; however, when it was time for Akari to begin her application, their parents revealed they had applied to Wuxia in her stead and accepted on her behalf - they would be sending her away to an international boarding school.

There were many conversations hushed in the middle of the night that Yuto attempted to eavesdrop on. He was scared that he would also be prohibited from going to Tsuruga and sent away when it was his time to graduate elementary school. Akari, similarly to Yuto, thought she would apply and attend Tsuruga after graduation, however, their parents simply overrode her wishes - they made vague excuses and avoided answering her questions directly, often saying it was for her own good or that she would understand once she’s older.

“I don’t know whose _good_ it’s for, but it’s not mine!” Akari hissed at them in the latest night of many nights of arguing, when they finally shredded her last vestige of hope of going to Tsuruga by showing her her acceptance letter from Wuxia and their own letter to the head priest of Tsuruga rejecting his invitation for Akari to study there. Her feelings of hurt and anger caused their parent’s letter to burst into flames.

That was the last night Akari attempted to talk to her parents about attending Tsuruga - her trust broken and her feelings stomped on. After that night, Akari no longer seemed to be her previous joyful self, instead her mouth was almost always set to a hard frown, her youthful freckles disappeared upon her tanned skin, and her eyes narrowed, as if she were constantly glaring at her parents. That was also the night Akari traces her cordial-and-no-more relationship with their parents.

It escapes Yuto why Hajime and Tooru continued to attend Tsuruga if his parents expected Wuxia to be better. Perhaps also a bit of his wishful thinking - he had hoped that his parents would allow him to attend Tsuruga even after strongarming Akari out of it.

For the remainder of her senior elementary school year, Akari only spoke if she snapped at them or had a scathing retort. Although she was generally nicer to her siblings, they too felt the flickers of her burning rage, venom always at the tip of her tongue. Her favourite saying was a sigh and a glare. Tooru had mostly used Hajime's used books and school equipment, so when their parents took just Akari on a shopping trip to purchase her all new school supplies and whatever else she would've liked if only she asked, in the hopes of calming her just a little, they were less than pleased when they returned with just the items on her school list, nothing more, nothing less: they still had an embittered daughter.

When it was time to send Akari off to Wuxia, the whole family woke up early to go through the teleportation glyph to the docks where Akari stood numbly with her suitcase in tow as their parents hugged her goodbye and wished for her safety. Of her three brothers, she only allowed a teary eyed Yuto to hug her, shooing away her two older brothers, but after that, she said her byes, swiftly boarded the Urashima ferry, and disappeared from their view. As the Urashima left the dock, they couldn’t see her on the deck waving bye alongside other students. Their mom cried the whole day afterwards; their dad attempted to console her gently through his own tears, mentioning Akari’s safety as their number one priority.

Akari seemed to mellow out upon returning from Wuxia, perhaps being amongst her peers and finally learning magic did that, or perhaps being away from her parents for the school year did, but she never lost the anger, the fire, the snap in her words from the denial of her childhood dreams of attending Tsuruga like her older brothers, of being sent away from her home, friends, and family.

Afraid of his relationship with his parents souring like Akari’s, Yuto put up no fuss when they similarly revealed their intentions of enrolling him in Wuxia - yet he couldn’t help the lingering resentment he felt being barred from attending Tsuruga and sent away to board at Wuxia as well; they were never asked, only ordered. Afraid Akari would turn her persistent glare towards him, he was amenable to most of what she said - he was the baby, the favourite son, when Akari wanted something she asked Yuto to ask their parents.

School drama aside, there was one thing Yuto was genuinely looking forward to: he would be getting _his own brush_. Everyone else in the family already had theirs: it was the sign of being a true witch or wizard. Young witches and wizards of course were not allowed to have brushes, they had not learned how to use them nor were their own magical powers strong enough to resonate with a brush either.

Yuto had always wondered what his brush would be like ever since he accompanied Hajime into that wondrous brush store and saw the glow around him when he wrote his name with his brush for the first time. When he thought no one was looking, he often examined and looked at brushes his family members owned, writing his name in the air along with other kanji he’d learned in school, waving them around aimlessly. They never produced any magic he’d seen when they were held by their respective owners, but he could feel the magic stored inside the brushes.

Yuto dreamed of the end of March where he went to Hajime’s graduation ceremony with their parents. He remembered Hajime’s flowing graduation gown swishing behind him as he walked across the stage to graduate; their parents were so proud when the teachers changed the colour of Hajime’s gown from black to gold, to indicate his top marks. This was the first time in Yuto’s life he’d seen Hajime smile so much, as his face was usually serious and stoic. The sun seemed to shine a halo around Hajime on this day, and he became more handsome than serious for the first time in his life.

His day attending Hajime’s graduation ceremony at Tsuruga was practically perfect; it was a stunning display of magic. The school building which normally looked like a prison, according to Tooru, was magically enhanced and enchanted. The roof shingles became a stunning crimson red and were lined with enchanted golden dragons that danced on the perimeters and breathed sparkling gold confetti instead of fire. Banners that swayed with no wind sang out the names of the graduating students along with congratulations. The cherry blossom trees on the school grounds were enchanted to constantly bloom and shed, showering the participants in a blizzard of pink petals. Teachers ran around frazzled, constantly vanishing the petals.

The head priest was an ancient warlock, donning pure white _joue_ enchanted with a sun rising and setting across his robes. He stood on the stage which blocked the marble fountain from view with a large red velvet curtain at the back of the stage.

“Congratulations, class of 2010! It is with great honour that I acknowledge your accomplishments throughout these past 6 years. I am humbled to have learned as much from you as I hope you have learned under the tutelage of my peers,” he announced, “Please, cross this stage and as a sign of growth, maturity, and closure: your final act as a secondary student, please perform the spell that you requested and has been approved by our staff.”

When the first student walked up, the fountain behind the stage erupted like a geyser and within the cascading water, the student’s name was emblazoned brightly. The headmaster bowed at the student, who reciprocated, then he moved the tassel on her cap to the other side of her face. The student faced the audience, wrote 祝 with her brush, and a shower of silver and red streamers rained down. She bowed, then walked off the stage.

Several students went down similar routes, producing streamers, confetti, or other celebratory items. Some produced sparks from their brushes, creating a miniature firework show, or other small animals or similarly sized creations. Yuto eagerly watched each student’s brush strokes, his eyes transfixed on the magic produced.

When it was Hajime’s turn to walk across the stage, Yuto couldn’t help but smile seeing his name (okay, his last name) shining in the spray behind the stage. Hajime turned to the audience, his brush swung upwards with a flourish, and a sleek and slender dragon made of water erupted from the kanji he wrote, the scales down its length was in the gradient of a rainbow. It soared into the air gracefully, wrapping around Hajime’s name from the fountain’s spout behind the stage, casting iridescent rainbow shadows upon the audience and school before it dispelled in a quiet burst of water as Hajime walked off the stage.

After the last graduate finished walking across the stage, everyone cheered and clapped as they threw off their graduation caps into the sun. The gold and black robes basked in the sun’s golden rays, along with jubilation in the air.

“Papa, why can’t I go to Tsuruga Majutsu Gakuen like Hajime-nii and Tooru-nii?” Yuto asked as their mom and Hajime were taking pictures with his friends. Their dad and Yuto had found a nice tree to sit under. Cherry blossom petals blew past them, picture-esque.

If he had accepted Tsuruga, he wouldn’t have to board at school and leave everything behind in Nagano. He didn’t fight with his parents when they told him he wouldn’t return to Tsuruga after his last cram school session, especially after seeing how it turned out when Akari did it. Today, however, the realization of what he would be missing hit him harder than it ever had before. 

Hajime got to walk across the graduation stage with friends he’d known his whole life, and Tooru would do just the same in less than 2 years’ time. 15 years of friendship culminated in their biggest life achievement yet. But, Yuto would be thrust into a new environment, not knowing anyone or anything about it. Anxiety bubbled up from Yuto’s stomach as he thought about the friends and life he’d leave here while his parents sent him away into the unknown.

His father was a tall and slim man, and Yuto watched as he futilely readjusted his glasses to stall for time. “Akari-chan is going to Wuxia, don’t you want to join her?” he responded gently, putting his arm around Yuto.

“Tooru-nii is still going to Tsuruga too!”

“What's gotten into you? You never had a problem with this before.”

That day, Yuto did not have the words to express his disappointment, his anger, his pain at being so close to where he truly wanted to go, but having it ripped away from him. Of seeing someone else accomplish what he so desperately wanted to do himself. His eyes stared at Tsuruga’s crest instead.

His dad followed his line of sight, then merely patted Yuto’s head, “I hope you can understand when you’re older.”

“Yuto-kun!” his mom called, breaking through Yuto’s dream, “Akari-chan!”

Yuto jolted awake as his mom opened the door to his shared room with his sister. He rubbed away the sleep in his eyes. She pulled out clothes for both of them, neatly laying them on top of the dresser.

“Wake up, both of you! We’re going to Katakura Mall to get your school supplies today,” she said gently before closing the door.

“Still holding onto your acceptance letter?” Akari teased him, jumping down from the top bunk bed before going into her dresser to pick out her own outfit; she made sure to playfully whip him in the face with a flourish of her long black hair.

Yuto only huffed back at her, but smiled at his letter again anyways. As he got ready he could hear the news program his father was watching filter into his room.

“ _The police are now claiming that the reported two high school students that have gone missing this past week are only the most recent missing cases in a string of missing children’s cases across Japan within the last few years which has received an uptick in cases within the last year._ ”

Yuto quietly shuffled out the bedroom, “Ah, you’re awake, good. Are you excited, Yuto?” his dad took his eyes off of the news to look at Yuto, smiling at him.

“Yes, papa,” Yuto said brightly.

The rest of the morning went by incredibly normally. Despite having gone shopping at Katakura Mall hundreds if not thousands of times in his life, the drive was all the more enjoyable - it couldn’t be fast enough.

The mall itself had just closed down - if you were not of magical heritage. The exterior of it began showing signs of decay and age. Local magunai people believed that some Yakuza had gotten a hold of the rights to the land and planned on demolishing the mall to build something but were held up on a legal technicality and thus were barred from actually developing anything. 

Inside however, it was a bright, lively, modern shopping centre. The ceiling had been bewitched to always look like a bright clear sky. There were floor tiles that liked to move around the mall on their own that sparkled and shimmered as patrons walked over them, creating a pleasant surprise when they did. Paper airplanes flew above the patrons, which could be summoned by them to act as a map and guide around Katakura. However, recently, they also began including images of the missing teens from this morning’s news program.

“It’s a shame, isn’t it,” their mom said gently, summoning one of the airplanes to her, looking over her own kids with a concerned look, “So young.”

Besides the light skip in Yuto’s step as they walked into shops buying textbooks, potion ingredients, and other school equipment, it was just like every other time they’d been to Katakura mall.

“I think you’ll be fine with Hajime’s brass cauldron, since he just graduated, Yuto-kun,” their mom said, scanning his equipment list, “He said he won’t be brewing potions in his post-secondary studies. All of the books Akari-chan used in her first year are still on this list as well...”

“Can we buy my brush now?” Yuto asked, his eyes wide as they strode passed a brushmaker, tugging on his dad’s sleeve.

“Oh, yes! I think that would be lovely,” his mom said, smiling widely, carefully folding the equipment list and putting it in her purse. “Let’s go to Shiraishi’s, I hear he recently made a new collection of cherrywood brushes. That’s a very auspicious brushwood.”

“Do I have to go?” Akari asked, rolling her eyes. “It’s not going to be any different from the last three times we’ve bought a brush.”

“Akari-chan!” their dad chided her. “Every witch’s and wizard’s first wand is very special, you should support Yuto more as he does for you.”

Akari sighed and pouted, “Fine, whatever.”

Ignoring Akari’s sour mood, Yuto walked briskly in front of his family, their dad trailing slightly behind as their mom continued to scold Akari who looked like she’d rather be on the missing’s child list than listen any longer.

The Adachi’s walked not that much longer before Yuto saw the awning emblazoned with _Shiraishi’s Sennin Fude since Yayoi period_. He dashed up to the clean storefront, hardwood and glass had never been something Yuto looked forward to but behind the glass he saw what he had longed for his whole life: a plethora of brushes calling out to him. His excitement hardly contained, he pressed his face against the glass, looking at the brushes on display atop white stones with their _niganpon_ described directly below the brush. _Niganpon_? Yuto read the kanji again, but wasn’t sure if he read it correctly. When the rest of his family _finally_ caught up to him, he pushed open the door, causing a bell to ring, alerting the clerk of their arrival.

Inside the store, even more brushes lined the shelves and walls, all the way to the ceiling. Inkstones and ink were also in an aisle on their own to the far side of the shop. Scrolls filled with the signatures of famous witches and wizards were hung around the walls, Yuto assumed they had bought their brushes from this store. Akari went to look at inkpots on the side, while their parents idly chatted while keeping an eye on them both.

“Welcome!” a voice called to them in the back behind the counter, “Please look around, I’ll be out with you in a moment!”

Yuto eagerly browsed the brushes, each one seemed to be unique and different from the last, even those sharing the same wood. Similarly to other brushes he held before, Yuto could feel the power held within each one, yet it all seemed sealed to him in some way.

When Yuto thought no one was looking, he examined them in greater detail: stroking some of the brush hairs (some were soft, others prickly) or picking up a couple and gave them a few waves as he had done with his siblings'. Disappointed each time as nothing happened, he gently placed each back on their pedestal.

“Ah, I see you are already trying a few for yourself,” a voice came up behind him, surprising Yuto causing him to drop the brush he had just picked up. 

“Sorry,” Yuto hastily apologised as the brush clattered onto the floor. He bent low to pick it up and was face to face with a man who couldn’t be much older than Hajime, with bright eyes that seemed to be looking deep into his soul, they both then straightened up at the same time. Yuto carefully placed the brush back on its spot on the shelf.

“Forgive me for frightening you. My father owns the shop; I have just begun my studies of brushlore.” Wearing a monocle and a long flowing red robe, he gave the distinct feeling of a “disheveled mad scientist” that Yuto had seen a lot of in American media. “Don’t worry about it, young man. You may call me Shiraishi, what’s your name?” he asked gently, stowing away his monocle.

Yuto shyly smiled and replied with his name.

“Do you have any questions about brushes?”

“What does _niganpon_ mean?” Yuto asked, the phrase had stuck out in his mind.

“ _Niganpon_ , or dual cores, refers to the two magical materials which imbue the brush with its magic. The outer core is the hairs at the end, such as raijuu or kyuubi fur, even houou feathers can be used, and the wood used to construct the brush. They work in harmony together to produce magic, no two combinations act in the same way, even of the same wood and creature fur.”

“What’s the strongest _niganpon_ combination?” the question slipped out of Yuto’s mouth before he could even think about what he said. He covered his mouth in embarrassment at his childish question.

Shiraishi chuckled heartily at that. “ _Niganpon_ combinations aren’t about strength; it is the conviction and knowledge of the witch or wizard that creates the strongest magic. Now, were you drawn to this aisle or did you wander in here aimlessly?” he asked gently.

“I came here because it was close,” Yuto mumbled lamely.

“These brushes are all with houou feathers, have you felt anything from them?” Yuto shook his head. “No? Perhaps we can try some over here.”

Yuto followed Shiraishi into various aisles of the store, where he gave Yuto several brushes to wave and feel - each one gave Yuto the same feeling of sealed power as the first one he picked up. As soon as he enclosed his fingers around the brush Shiraishi held out to him, it was just as quickly taken away. Shiraishi muttered notes to himself each time; Yuto couldn’t help but feel studied.

“Try this: red oak and kyuubi fur. Pliant and flexible,” Shiraishi said, handing Yuto a handsome brush, but as soon as Yuto’s fingers clasped around it he sighed and went to the back of the shop.

Yuto turned to his parents, anxious, “What if I can’t find a brush? He left so suddenly... maybe I’m not a wizard after all…”

“This is nothing,” his father replied, who broke away from his wife to consolingly pat Yuto on the back, “The brush chooses the wizard, Yuto. How many wizards do you think there are? How many brushes? You want the perfect one for you, don’t you?”

Yuto nodded solemnly - he wanted to believe him, but couldn’t stave off the fleeting excitement being replaced by fear. He gave the brush another weak wave, and still nothing happened.

“I believe I’ve finally found the brush for you, young man!” Shiraishi announced triumphantly as he brandished yet another brush at Yuto, “Cherry and kirin fur. Unrelenting and graceful. If you have conviction and strength of mind, this should be the brush for you. Please, give it a try.”

"Cherry?" Yuto breathed. Cherry wood was highly sought after in Japan, it showed class and talent. His mom said that many talented and amazing witches and wizards were drawn to cherry wood, and vice versa.

Yuto placed down the red oak brush, and reached out for the cherry brush.

Even before his fingers reached it, he could feel the power calling out to him.

As if there was a whisper of his own name in the air.

When the brush was in his hand, he felt warm, elated, yet also calm.

Reassured.

Yuto waved the brush excitedly, there was a bang and a burst of smoke: gold sparks erupted from the tip. As if the air had been sucked out of the room, all of them took a breath.

“Amazing, isn’t it?” Shiraishi said in a mystified voice, “It seems you’ve finally found the brush for you, young man!”

Yuto smiled wide, enamored with the brush in his fingers. He stroked the fur at the tip, the fine hairs were soft to the touch and there was a tingling sensation as he did so. His parents smiled proudly at him.

His mom smiled and ruffled Yuto’s hair, “Wow! That’s a very handsome brush! But remember, you’re still underaged! No magic until you’re at Wuxia!”

“Yes, mom,” Yuto said in a sing-song.

“Please come this way! We will commemorate your finding each other by having you write your name with the brush!” Shiraishi beckoned Yuto to follow him into the ink aisle, where he pulled out an inkstone and began dragging an ink stick into the well to make ink.

Akari looked as though she was waiting expectantly in the aisle. “Was that you?” Akari asked, eyebrow raised, clearly referencing the loud bang.

Yuto smiled proudly, presenting the brush. “It’s cherrywood.”

Akari gave a brief smile before she remembered she should be unimpressed, leaving the aisle to sit in a chair to pretend to be annoyed.

When Shiraishi was finally satisfied with the ink, he lay out a piece of parchment, and gestured for Yuto to write his name.

Yuto dipped the kirin fur into the ink, then began writing his name on the parchment stretched out in front of him.

**安達 祐人**

The inky black characters of his name seemed to glow and radiate power. He felt as if a missing piece of him had been returned. He continued to stare at his name written by his brush, awestruck. He was barely aware when his father gently pulled at him to leave.

“Would you like to keep the parchment?” Shiraishi asked, gently.

“Can I?”

Shiraishi nodded, ripping the piece from the scroll and handing it to Yuto as they left the shop.

Akari snickered after they left the shop, “You’re on your way to being a real wizard now, aren’t you?”

Yuto and Akari bickered all the way back to the car.

No matter what insults Akari threw at Yuto however, nothing mattered besides hearing _a real wizard_. Yuto couldn't contain his smile for the rest of the week.

The morning of April 14th could not arrive fast enough for Yuto.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yell at me at my [ tumblr ](https://thewickedwizardofoz.tumblr.com) sorry it's not a strict kpop blog but im literally never off of it so :)
> 
> I hope you enjoy! If you have any questions about anything in regards to my fic lemme know, I'd be happy to answer :3
> 
> 悟霞魔術學院: Wuxia Moshu Xueyuan, the name roughly means "Enlightened Daybreak Magic Academy." The first character is also the character used in Goku and Sun Wukong's name. It also has the character for 5 and sounds like it too (in Mandarin). It also more obviously sounds like "Wuxia" the genre of Chinese Mystical Martial Arts films.  
> Katakura Mall is a now closed mall in Nagano - perfect set up for a Magical Bazaar if you ask me.  
> 白石の仙人筆: Shiraishi no sennin Fude, Shiraishi's Wizarding Brushes  
> 二元本: Niganpon, it means "two principals" but when you break it down it contains "nigen" which means dual and "ganpon" which means principal.


	2. Journey's Beginnings

Even though Yuto had some basic magic classes disguised as cram school during his elementary years, obviously he’d never actually _used_ any magic of his own volition. His parents, however, loved to tell the story of how he made the piano play on its own when he was a baby, happily cooing and laughing along to the music he produced.

So, when he returned with his brush he continued to talk endlessly about it to his family. Tooru whistled low when he found out it was made of cherry wood, but otherwise lightly flicked Yuto’s ear when he got too annoyed with Yuto’s prattling. Hajime took him for ice cream that afternoon, patiently listening to everything Yuto said and answered all of his questions about magic and school.

Throughout the week Yuto had been combing through Akari's copies of _A Basic Guide to Elemancy_ , _Mojikara for Beginners_ , and _Starting Incantations_ for spells and other practical magic he could try before leaving for school. The last night before Yuto’s first year of magical education he even managed to convince his mom into letting him practise a couple spells under her supervision (he promised he had everything already packed).

“Very good, Yuto-kun,” his mom praised him as water began filling into the cup through his water-producing spell, the kanji he’d written floating above the cup. They had been working at it for about an hour, and he finally got water to flow into the cup. “Very beautiful shodo. Now, finish and wash up, dinner is ready. Remember, it’s _tojiru_ to end the spell.”

“What’s the kanji for tojiru?” Yuto asked, but his mom had already left him to get dinner.

“You can just say it,” Hajime said as he walked past Yuto to sit at the table.

“Tojiru,” Yuto said, flipping the brush in his hand so the handle was pointed at the kanji, the kirin fur tickling the inside of his palm. There was a puff of air towards the kanji 泉, which lingered in the air for a second longer before dispelling, and the water in the cup stopped rising. Yuto picked up the cup and deposited it into the sink.

Everyone else was already sitting at the table when Yuto came back from washing his hands.

“Hey lil’ bro,” Tooru smirked at Yuto as he sat next to him, “Fancy magic trick, where’d you learn that?”

“ _A Basic Guide to Elemancy_! The spell was also in _Mojikara_ _for Beginners_ , so I thought it would be good to try,” Yuto rattled off, “At first I could only get a few droplets of water in the cup, but it fills all the way up now!”

Tooru ruffled his hair, “Better than waving my brush around aimlessly right?”

Yuto flushed at that - _did everyone know about that_?

Hajime kicked Tooru underneath the table, a scowl across his face, “Leave him alone, you did the same with mine.”

Tooru pouted, “Ouch! Hime-chan you always take Yu-chan’s side over me!”

“Stop calling me that, you’re not 6 years old,” Hajime huffed, pinching the bridge of his nose.

“Now, now,” their dad consoled the pair. “You’re 18 and 16, shouldn’t you two have learned how to get along by now?”

Tooru stuck his tongue out, “I get along great with Hime-chan, dad! It’s him that doesn’t like me!”

“Grow up! Look at Yuto, he’s way more mature than you and he’s four years younger than you!” Hajime scolded him. Yuto couldn’t help but smile at that. “All you do is goof off with your girlfriends! Did you ever study before you went to school? No!”

“You’re just mad now that I’m taller than you now, aren’t you?” Tooru smiled cheekily, using the same charming smile he used to win over his many girlfriends, as Hajime pointed out. Akari snickered behind her cup.

Hajime’s eyes narrowed into a glare similar to their father’s. Their squabble continued until their mom rounded the corner from the kitchen, plates floating by peacefully on their own.

“What’s happening here?” she asked gently, although they all knew she already knew what was happening with her mom superpowers.

“Hajime-nii is jealous of Tooru-nii’s girlfriends,” Akari giggled, as their dinner landed gracefully onto the dinner table.

Hajime looked aghast at the thought, running a hand through his short spiky hair, “T-this and that are completely different!”

Tooru’s eyes gleamed at the thought, “Don’t worry Hime-chan, you’ll always be my number 1 onii-sama!”

Yuto chuckled at that; but, Hajime looked like he’d rather throw himself out the window, face-palming, his ears were tipped red with embarrassment. “Please don’t ever say that again...”

“What’s wrong, _onii-sama_?” Tooru said in a baby-voice, his smile wicked and Yuto laughed the loudest at that, causing Tooru to smile even more widely. “See, even Yu-chan thinks I’m funny.”

“Sure, Tooru-nii,” Yuto smiled and Tooru ruffled his hair.

“It’s okay, I’ll let onii-sama be jealous that you like me more than him now.”

"Please go back to calling me Hime-chan," Hajime managed to groan from behind his hands.

“Okay, okay, that’s enough teasing, let’s eat!” their mom jokingly scolded them, the plates settling onto the table now.

“Thank you for the meal!” they all said before beginning to eat.

On this night, his last dinner before beginning his journey to being a real wizard, Yuto felt happy. Any lingering resentment lay forgotten, swept under the rug as they talked about Wuxia, what Yuto was looking forward to, what spells Yuto wanted to try, whatever they could ask him. For all that it was mundane and regular, Yuto wouldn’t have it any other way.

* * *

For the past two years of his life, Yuto had never had to prepare to pack up most of his belongings and actually leave for boarding school - he had always woken up just before they were about to leave, then got onto the teleportation glyph to see Akari off to school.

As great as Yuto was feeling last night, he was suddenly feeling just as bad this morning. Yuto had woken up early, jittery, unable to sleep again. The 5 am sun streamed through his blinds. He opened his trunk and made sure all his textbooks were packed properly, checked his clothes and other school supplies, then recounted his textbooks again. Needing something else to distract himself with, he went to take a shower.

Hajime was already ready by the time Yuto had finished his shower, sitting at the dining table with a mug of coffee in hand. Yuto saw that Hajime had drawn the beginnings of a teleportation glyph in a corner of their home, the circular outline drawn in white chalk. “Good morning.”

“Good morning, Hajime-nii.”

“Excited?” he asked, taking a sip of his coffee.

“Yes,” Yuto said plainly, butterflies fluttering around his stomach.

“What’s wrong, Yuto? You’re not talking as much as you normally do. Nervous?” Hajime asked, pulling the chair beside him out, gesturing for Yuto to sit next to him.

"I-I don’t know,” Yuto replied, sitting down, “Maybe? Something feels...off. I feel sick."

Hajime put the back of his hand to Yuto’s forehead. “You don’t feel sick. You anxious?”

Yuto couldn’t find the words to express what he was feeling, the clamminess of his hands, the tightness in his stomach. “I don’t know. Maybe I’m a little anxious,” he mumbled.

Hajime pulled his brother close, wrapping his muscular arms around Yuto, petting his hair softly. “C'mere, it’s ok, it might be a little scary at first to be away from home, but you’ll be so occupied soon you won’t even notice it. Focus on what you want to do. Akari had no problems adjusting to boarding, and you won’t either.”

“What are you going to be doing now?” Yuto asked, feeling just a bit better. “You got accepted into Ryuumon University right?”

“Yeah, it’s close by too, so I can keep Tooru company with mom and dad. I’m going to study onmyodo to be a hunter,” he said. “Orientation starts in the afternoon.”

“Onmyodo?”

“Understanding the balance of magic. Most onmyodo practitioners work at the shrines we visit for New Years, you’ve definitely seen them before, magunai people love to ask for their help and blessing with no one else to turn to.”

“And you want to study it to be… a hunter?”

“Yeah, you know, you can use magic to track down yokai and help dispel dark curses and stuff. I want to help people, but not stuck in a temple praying when I can actually make a difference,” Hajime said, giving Yuto a small smile, hoping this little conversation was enough to wane his anxiety.

Tooru’s chuckle floated into the room, buttoning up his gakuran most of the way; Hajime relaxed his hug on Yuto, turning just his head to look while Yuto shifted his whole body in the dining chair to face Tooru, “Ohoho...what’s this? Trying to be cool in front of Yu-chan, Hime-chan? Are you jealous that I’m moving in as his favourite brother?”

“Shut up,” Hajime warned with no real malice behind it, pouting instead.

“Sleep well, Yu-chan?” Tooru said sweetly, patting Yuto’s head. “You heard Hajime-nii, don’t worry about any of that, ok? You’re gonna be great. Just focus on going to school and staying cute.”

“I’m not cute anymore!” Yuto exclaimed, “I’m a real wizard now!”

Tooru laughed obligingly, “Should I call you Matsukki then?”

Yuto pouted, “But I’m Yuto.”

“Yu-chan looks like he could be your kid, Hime-chan, you both pout the same way,” Tooru laughed, pinching Yuto’s cheeks.

"That's because we are _brothers_. And I don’t pout,” Hajime pouted.

“Are you coming with us to Fukue island, Tooru-nii?” Yuto asked, “You can come back in time to make it back to Tsuruga; we all went with Akari-nee through the glyph network before your classes last year, all of us.”

"Sorry, Yu-chan, I have a different assembly time this year; I’m a second year, so we have the worst starting time,” Tooru said sadly, pinching his cheek again, "Dad and I are about to leave."

Just as he said that, their father entered the room, looking more refreshed than any of them, "Ah, good morning Hajime, Yuto."

"Morning," they chorused back.

“Ready to go, Tooru?”

“Yup!” Tooru gave Hajime a fistbump, sharing identical grins, then leaned down to hug Yuto, "Be good, Yu-chan! Write lots, don't get into any trouble, except with the ladies!"

"What kind of advice is that!" Hajime barked.

Yuto got up from his chair to hug his dad. "Bye! I'll see you soon!"

His dad patted his head; Yuto felt he might get a bump with how often his head was being patted. "It's as Tooru says. Have a good first year. Be _safe_ , write, and don't get into any trouble, even with the ladies."

"Dad!" Hajime scolded him. Their dad and Tooru laughed as they walked out. Hajime grumbled as they closed the door.

"Good morning!" Akari called, exiting her shared room with Yuto.

"You just missed Tooru-nii and papa leave," Yuto informed her.

"Aw, man! I wanted to see what advice Tooru-nii was going to give you, Yuto," Akari pouted.

"He said don't get in trouble except with the ladies!" Yuto said brightly.

Akari burst out in hearty laughter at that, "What kind of advice is that!?"

"That's what I said!" Hajime agreed gravely.

"As if Tooru-nii knows anything about keeping out of trouble with the ladies!"

Their mom and Akari got ready shortly after that, and like that Yuto forgot all about why he woke up early. Then they gathered in the corner where the magic circle Hajime had drawn earlier, their mom filling in the glyph with the necessary kanji and coordinates to activate it finally, causing it to glow a vibrant light blue.

“Remember to speak very clearly, Takahama Beach House,” their mom said, wiping her hands clean of the magic chalk and standing up to look at her children, “Zip up your jackets, it’ll be cold even on the beach. I’ll come through after all of you have gone in first so I can close the portal.”

Akari stepped onto the glyph and shouted, “Takahama Beach House.” Then she disappeared in a flash of white.

Hajime and Yuto moved his and Akari’s suitcases onto the glyph, taking up most of the space in the circle. It was rather comical that Hajime, having drawn the circle himself, had not accounted for his bulk and two suitcases when drawing the circle. Yuto could only chuckle as Hajime looked a little disgruntled, holding onto both suitcases before he shouted, “Takahama Beach House.”

After the flash of light, it was Yuto’s turn. He stepped into the circle before he shouted, “Takahama Beach House.”

Yuto closed his eyes to avoid the burn from the white light, he felt his body compress and shoot through the glyph network, hearing bits and pieces of conversation of other glyphs connecting to the network. 

“ _-to eat your vegetables_.”

“ _We can’t find her_ -”

“ _Ready for school_?”

The smell of ocean salt to let Yuto know he had arrived safely. He blinked several times as there were flashes of white light all over like multiple camera flashes. He emerged into the spacious backroom the beach house had set up which was fitted with several platforms for wizarding families to use. Who he assumed were other students and their families were also lazily piling in, distressed attendants in button-up shirts that read _Big Wave_ and sunglasses on it were shepherding people out of the backroom slowly and pulling people and suitcases off of the platforms if necessary for the next person to show up almost instantly.

“Yuto!” Akari called to him with Hajime standing beside her with their suitcases, they had found an empty spot near the door, Yuto carefully stepped off the platform and walked towards them, “Just waiting for mom now. The attendants have been watching us ever since we got in here: they seem on edge.”

“They asked me why I have so many suitcases,” Hajime scowled. “As if some other students aren’t bringing more than the two of you combined.”

“What time is it?” Yuto asked, relieving Hajime of his own suitcase.

Hajime pulled out his gold pocket watch, the four stars on its face were a dulled turquoise, “It’s 6:50 we won’t have time to walk, but if we get on the 777 bus we’ll have plenty of time. She should be arriving shortly.”

The 777 was the magical bus line that operated all across Japan, all you had to do was go to a bus stop and state your destination by tapping your brush onto the bus stop. They guaranteed efficiency and safe travel.

Just as he said that, they saw their mom arrived on one of the platforms, and they called for her.

“Good, everyone here in one piece?” she asked. She paid one of the attendants, and they exited onto the beach, the cold spring air caused them all to tighten their coats around them and huddle closer.

The white sand and blue waves were inviting Yuto to sit on the beach and lounge around. The gentle crash of the waves soothed Yuto. He remembered the previous year he asked if his parents could just leave him here while he waited to attend Wuxia. 

_Wuxia_ , he reminded himself. The reason he was here. He tore his line of sight away from the welcoming waves and spotted the bus stop they were going to use.

Looking around briefly, their mom then put her brush against the bus stop and whispered “Fukue port.”

“It should only be a minute, the 777 doesn’t take that long,” Hajime said, looking at his pocket watch again, before closing it shut dramatically.

“There it is,” their mom said soothingly as the bus pulled around the corner. It looked just like every other bus in Japan, except it was a deep red and had #777 alternating with the prefecture it operated in (in this case, Nagasaki) on the display above the windshield. 

They all clambered into the bus as an automated voice announced the current stop. Hajime helped Yuto lift his suitcase onto the rack. “It’s only a few minutes, we don’t have to sit,” their mom said, as they stood off to the side of the luggage rack. Other wizards were also boarding the bus, several other students had put their suitcases on the rack as well.

“Yeah, but I want to,” Akari said fleetingly, walking to the back of the bus where seats were open.

“Hajime-kun, if you could,” their mom said, nodding her head towards where Akari walked off to. He nodded before going after her, standing in the aisle next to the seat she sat at as she put in her earbuds.

“Excited, Yuto-kun?” she asked, eyeing the missing children’s poster that was besides the driver’s compartment. “I’m going to miss you while you’re gone!”

Yuto smiled brightly, “Yes, _finally_ I get to go!”

“Please don’t be too mad about that,” she said rather sullenly, “You have to be safe, ok?”

He nodded robotically, but that made his mom smile wide, so perhaps it was worth it. He decided to turn to look out the window at the coast they were driving along, the ocean’s waves continued to gracefully crash along the white sand.

“ _The next stop is Fukue Port, please ensure you have all your belongings_ ,” the automated voice announced a few minutes later. Hajime had somehow gotten Akari to walk to the front where Yuto and their mom were standing. Yuto suspected it had something to do with Hajime holding her earphones, and she did not look pleased with this turn of events as she stumbled along, the bus’s movements throwing her off balance.

Hajime pulled off Akari’s and Yuto’s suitcases, handing them to their respective owners.

The bus slowed to a stop, and the automated voice rang out again,“ _Fukue Port. Please make sure all your belongings are with you before departing the bus. Please watch your step as you depart the bus._ ”

The Adachis made their way off the bus and onto the copper port quickly before other students would join the bustle.

It was well after sunrise now, so many of the fisherman were still out to sea to make the day’s catch, and other patrons had not yet arrived as there was nothing in stock yet. The port itself was copper green, almost a grey turquoise. Each dock was numbered, but it jumped straight from 4 to 6, something the local magunai population thought was strange since normally the number 4 was skipped. Dock 5 in actuality was simply hidden from their view, and was used for Wizarding vessels, with the dock expanding or contracting based on the size of the vessel.

They walked towards Dock 5 alongside other students and their families. At the end of the dock was the Urashima, a medium-sized white ferry. The wood clacked beneath them and their suitcases as they walked up towards the ferry.

“Okay, this is as far as we go, don’t forget your tickets,” their mom said, stopping just shy of the wooden board leading onto the ferry, extending her arms to hug Akari, handing her a ticket, “Akari-chan, take care of Yuto-kun, it’s his first year.”

She rolled her eyes, “Sure.”

“You’ll be fine, Yuto,” Hajime said as he hugged him as well, “Keep up with your homework, build good discipline.”

“‘Kay,” Yuto said, smiling wide, each step he was getting closer and closer to finally getting to learn magic. As soon as Hajime let him go, he was enveloped by his mother’s embrace, “Bye, mama.”

“Be _safe_ ,” she reiterated sternly as if she thought he would be looking for the first danger to fling his body into, still tightly hugging him, “Write often, okay?”

Only after he nodded yes did his mom give him his ticket to board the ferry.

“The journey is just over 6 hours, so take a nap on the ferry, okay? Don’t fall asleep in front of any of the teachers. And take these bento for lunch,” she said, pulling out two identical blue and pink bento boxes to give to each of them.

Hajime merely pat Akari on the head, handing back her earphones, “Mom, we should let them board the ferry.”

“Okay,” she finally relented, letting go of Yuto, waving at them as they boarded. “Be good!” she shouted one last time at them.

Akari and Yuto gathered at the stern of Urashima to continue waving at their mom and Hajime who now had an arm around their mom. The loud foghorn blared and attendants on the dock and on the ferry began untying it. Yuto felt the ship sway and rock as it became untethered. Akari and Yuto stayed by the stern of the boat along with some other students to wave to their families as the boat pulled out of the port.

“I’m not staying with you at all, by the way,” Akari said flatly to him as the dock shrunk and their mom and Hajime disappeared from their view, “I’m going to hang out with my friends.”

“But I don’t have any friends,” Yuto whined as they both turned away from the shrinking figures on the port.

“Then make some.” Akari rolled her eyes, walking off of the deck and into the cabin, apparently spotting one of her friends and dragging her suitcase with her, “You’ll have to learn how anyway.”

The ferry wasn’t that large, there were maybe a hundred or two other students with them on it. Inside the cabin, the seats were facing each other in groups of three and were a deep blue with artistic splotches of other colours and shapes splattered randomly, with tables in-between them. People had stowed their luggage at the front of the cabin or under their seats. Yuto looked around but everyone else had seemingly also found some of their friends and were already sitting together. People had books open, food to eat, games to play, already socializing and finding friends.

He walked past rows and rows of filled seats, when he saw Akari again with a girl who looked nice enough, she had her hair in pigtails and a smile that opposed Akari’s frown. He also saw it was only the two of them at the table, and went to sit next to them.

“Who’s this?” the girl giggled, noticing that Yuto had apprehensively watched Akari as he approached the pair of them before sitting down, stowing his trunk underneath the seat.

“It’s my little brother, Yuto,” Akari groaned, attempting to shoo him away, “Stop! No! I thought I told you to make some friends.”

“I don’t know anyone,” Yuto said, quietly. “I just want to sit; everywhere else is full. I’ll even sit a seat away.”

“It’s okay, Akari-chan. Yuto-kun, was it? I’m Eien Kimiko, nice to meet you,” the other girl said, her smile contrasting Akari’s frown as Yuto continued to be in her presence. “What grade are you in?”

“Eien-senpai? Nice to meet you,” Yuto reciprocated, smiling shyly back at her. “I am in my first year.”

Kimiko giggled at Yuto’s shyness, “Oh, you don’t have to be so formal, Yuto-kun. Kimiko is fine. So this is your first time on the ferry?”

Yuto nodded. "Then, how about Kimiko-nee?"

Kimiko smiled warmly, looking at Akari, “Akari-chan, we should be nice, he is your younger brother. It’s ok if he sits with us.” 

“ _Fine_ , you can sit here, but when we get to the oarfish-pulled sub, you better leave us alone,” Akari added in a low voice, glaring at Yuto, before turning to directly face Kimiko as if to shut him out of the conversation. Kimiko gave him a look as if to say sorry, but turned slightly to talk to Akari anyhow.

Yuto pulled out his own black earphones, putting them in and turning on his iPod, One Day by The Rootless began playing as Kimiko and Akari began talking to each other. He opened his suitcase to pull out Akari’s old copy of _A Basic Guide to Elemancy_ and began reading.

_Water is the element that is easiest to adapt to any situation. It is flexible and can change form._

_Water is the element that is easiest to adapt to any situation. It is flexible and can change form._

_It is flexible and can change form._

Yuto’s eyes were having trouble staying open, reading the same line of text over and over again. He _was_ rather tired, haven woken up so early maybe he could just rest his eyes for a bit. He did promise his mom he would take a nap after all. He placed Akari's book on the table and closed his eyes; the calming sound of the bow breaking the waves and distant conversation lulled him to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yell at me at my [ tumblr ](https://thewickedwizardofoz.tumblr.com)
> 
> In-universe I'll explain a little more about how brushes can be used to express magic, so stay tuned!
> 
> 泉: Izumi, lit. spring/fountain.  
> 文力: Mojikara, lit. writing power (Toei don't sue me pls)  
> 閉じる: Tojiru, lit. to close.  
> Hime-chan: a shortened version of Hajime, that also means princess, extra annoyance points for Tooru!  
> Onii-sama, hm. I guess it's sorta like "daddy" but for older brothers/cousins asdkalsdkjas don't hate me for saying that XD (Literally it's just older brother with a very formal honourific at the end). u can take Hajime's embarrassment to mean whatever u like :P  
> Matsukki: Shortened form of "Mahoutsukai" (which means magician) that Tooru made up.  
> Fukue Island one of the western-most islands in Kyushuu, part of a archipelagos of 5 islands in Nagasaki  
> 


	3. Five Guardians

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ooops this one is quite a bit longer than the last one. Hope that's alright! There wasn't a good breaking time I felt like, so I hope you can forgive me :)
> 
> But alas we have made it! Yuto's adventure at Wuxia begins and the introduction of some more Pentagon members amongst other idols!

Yuto awoke with a jolt - Akari was shaking him. “Wha-? Are we there?”

“No dummy, show the attendant your ticket,” Akari scoffed, pointing him towards the attendant. 

Yuto turned to see the attendant wearing a sailor’s uniform standing by the seats with his hand extended.

“Ticket please,” he said.

Yuto rummaged around his pockets looking for the ticket his mom gave him, handing it over to the attendant. He tapped it with his brush and then handed it back to Yuto, a single stroke going down and left appeared on his ticket.

“You should eat something, you almost slept through the whole trip,” Akari scolded him. “And then pull on your hanten, we’re almost at the checkpoint. I already put my book back into your suitcase.”

“Okay,” Yuto replied sleepily, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. 

After hastily eating what he could in the bento that his mom made before stashing it back into his suitcase as well, he pulled on the black long-sleeved hanten over his regular clothes, feeling excited now.

"Get up, I want to get onto the submersible first," Akari said, "Kimiko-chan is saving a spot for us."

Yuto nodded, still a little sluggish from his nap. Urashima's foghorn blared once more and they halted on the waves.

"Hurry up," Akari hissed, "Leave your suitcase the attendants will take it to your dorm later."

"Okay, okay," he snapped back, checking his pockets for his brush and iPod, before getting up and following Akari's directions. He saw Kimiko standing by an attendant near the side of the ferry.

“Good morning,” she smiled at them, “Have a good nap?”

“Yeah, it was good,” he said quietly. Yuto held onto the railing as Urashima dipped and rose gently with the waves.

“Please make a single file line,” the attendant said, gesturing with his hand for the other students to stand behind Kimiko and Akari in line, “Four to a carriage. They will be here soon.”

“There’s one now!” Kimiko said, pointing at something heading towards Urashima in the distance, “It must’ve finished collecting students from another ferry if it’s coming this way on top of the water.”

When Yuto squinted his eyes he could see the long enormous form of two oarfish pulling along what seemed to be a carriage placed on top of the bottom half of a boat. The oarfish pulled up right next to Urashima and stopped.

“Three please, there’s already one on board,” the attendant on the carriage called up, he too wore the same sailor uniform as the ones on deck.

“Easy now,” the attendant on Urashima said, pointing his brush at a ladder muttering something under his breath that caused the ladder to slide down the side of the ferry into the carriage, "You may leave your belongings on the ferry, we will take them to your dormitory after you.”

Kimiko, Akari, and then Yuto climbed down the ladder onto the sub. The inside was ornate with six cushioned seats on either side of the carriage. One of them was already occupied by another student who looked to be a young boy around Yuto’s age. 

“Play nice, tell a teacher if you’re having problems, and for the last time, don’t talk to me unless you have to,” Akari said sternly to Yuto, sounding a lot like their mom, before pulling Kimiko to the other side of the submersible so she could ignore Yuto in peace with a look that clearly said _befriend the other child_.

With the three of them firmly on board, the attendant wrote 氣泡 with his brush, “Qìpào,” he muttered, and a thin bubble formed around the submersible before the two oarfish dove under the waves, pulling the carriage along with it.

Yuto looked to the only other student who happened to be standing with him on the submersible, he looked about his age. The boy smiled back warmly, “안녕하세요,” he said in, Korean? Yuto wasn’t sure.

“Uh, hi,” Yuto responded hesitantly, the other boy was about the same height as him so they looked directly into each other’s eyes, his eyes seemed to shine with a kindness that reminded Yuto of Hajime.

“Oh, are you Japanese?” he replied slowly Japanese as well.

“Oh, yes, I am! Was that Korean? How do you know Japanese?” Yuto responded, perhaps a little too quickly, the other boy smiled obligingly, seemingly startled by the sudden barrage of questions.

“Yes, I am Korean. I learned in school. I’m Kang Hyunggu; nice to meet you,” the boy said, and the pair of them sat by the edge of the carriage to watch the sea life pass by and to settle for the remainder of their trip to Wuxia.

“Hyu-hyu-Hyunggu? I’m Adachi Yuto, please take care of me,” Yuto smiled and they bowed at each other.

“Adachi-san, I guess it should be then.”

“Just Yuto is fine,” Yuto replied, waving off Adachi.

“Then, Yuto-kun!” Hyunggu smiled brightly, “Nice to meet you.”

“Why were you alone on this sub?”

“There wasn’t enough space on the last sub that got to my ferry, so they sent one more just for me. I had to part with the friend I made,” Hyunggu pouted. 

Yuto noticed that Hyunggu’s clothes were very new, his hair was also freshly cut and styled, and it seemed like all his stuff was new. He felt a little subconscious about his clothes that were purchased a year or two ago, and definitely had one seam unravelling; Yuto pulled his hanten tighter around himself to conceal his casual clothes. “Your robes are new?” 

“Oh yes, my parents are not magical, so this was all a shock for them. And me! We bought everything last week. I just graduated elementary school and thought I was going to go to a nice middle school when a Wuxia teacher came to my house at the beginning of spring vacation with my letter and explained everything to us. We didn’t believe him until he turned our table into a dog and then back into our table.” Hyunggu recounted, “What about you?”

“What a coincidence! This is also going to be my first year at Wuxia! Both of my parents are magical. But my mom is also a magunai witch,” Yuto said. “I’ve grown up with magic all my life.”

“Magunai?”

“魔法なしで生まれた: she was born without magic. She’s like you, both of her parents are not magical, but developed magical powers when she grew up,” Yuto explained.

“Wow,” Hyunggu said, awestruck. “It must be awesome to be raised around this stuff. I’ve got a lot of catching up to do.”

Yuto smiled, “You can ask me anything! I’ll help you as much as I can.”

Hyunggu gave Yuto some extra bread he’d had leftover from breakfast and the pair talked eagerly even through some slight language hiccups.

“Do you know if our phones are going to work there? Since the school is underwater.” Hyunggu asked after a brief pause, showing Yuto his sleek smartphone, “My parents got me this new smartphone as a present. But, it's probably more to keep an eye on me.”

Yuto hummed, “I don’t think so. My sister said none of her friends’ phones worked.”

Hyunggu pouted. “That’s one way of getting us to not use them, I guess.”

“Can I see that?” Yuto asked, eyeing the shiny new phone. He knew some of his other friends had some, but others’ parents didn’t let them have them yet. Hajime still used a flip phone while his parents had Blackberries (Hajime had to teach their dad how to use it unsuspiciously).

“Wizards don’t have phones?” Hyunggu chuckled, passing it over to Yuto.

Yuto shook his head, “I have 3 siblings, so we don’t get stuff as soon as it comes out anymore. I have my sister’s books, my brother’s cauldron, my other brother’s gameboy...”

“Oh, sorry, I didn’t mean to-” Hyunggu apologised, horror quickly spreading across his face.

“It’s okay,” Yuto said, quickly. Turning on the screen (a family picture of Hyunggu, his little sister, and parents was his lockscreen) and turning the phone over in his hand, carefully examining it, there were already a few scratches on the case, indicating Hyunggu had dropped it a few times already. “I don’t mind.”

The conversation lulled to an awkward quiet as Yuto continued to examine Hyunggu's phone.

“ _Yuto-kun_ ,” Hyunggu sang sweetly, noticing the change in atmosphere, “Don’t be mad at me, _please_?"

A smile broke out across Yuto’s face through his confusion. “What was that?” he laughed.

“Nothing, I thought I said something wrong, so I wanted to cheer you up.” Hyunggu replied, a wide smile on his face.

“You didn’t.”

“Didn’t what?”

“You didn’t say anything wrong,” Yuto said quietly, causing Hyunggu to smile at him then he pointed to the top right corner of Hyunggu’s screen, “Look, there’s no bars and we aren’t at the school yet.”

Hyunggu pouted, “Guess I’ll have to write to my parents the _magunai_ way.” He muttered thanks as Yuto gingerly returned Hyunggu’s phone, slipping it into his robe’s inner pocket.

“We are about to arrive at Wuxia,” the attendant said, “Please sit properly in your seats while we breach the air bubble.”

“While we what?” Hyunggu asked, and the attendant repeated himself in Korean for him. “Okay, thank you.”

“Air bubble?” Hyunggu asked Yuto in a low voice, repeating the words he had heard the attendant say.

Yuto only shrugged, as far as he knew the whole school was underwater. The two pairs of friends were ushered to sit on the same side of the carriage.

“It means the teachers set up a magical bubble of air around the school for us to breathe! The school is underwater, but obviously we aren’t kappa, we need to breathe air. Just like this one, which is why only 4 students are allowed on at a time, there's limited oxygen inside these small ones! You two don’t know anything about the school you’re going to?” Kimiko said brightly, gesturing to the air bubble around the submersible now, both of the boys shook their heads, “Sorry, I overheard your conversation.”

“Oh, thanks!” Hyunggu said. “Where do we go after we get onto school grounds?”

“Oh, you first years will be told where to go, don’t worry,” Kimiko said, before getting tugged by Akari back into their own conversation, who glared at Yuto.

Yuto and Hyunggu watched as the school came into view beyond the giant oarfish. The school was a magnificent aquamarine palace with five towering pagodas spaced evenly apart from each other giving the school the shape of a pentagon while the roofing was a bright coral with a scallop shell texture, and there seemed to be distinct sectors of the school grounds outside the pentagon where each quarter had a season in its biome: winter in the north, spring in the east, summer in the south, and autumn in the west. They were currently approaching the spring biome where the trees were just budding, and various flowers seemed to be gearing up to bloom.

"Wow," Yuto breathed.

"It's magical," Hyunggu agreed.

The oarfish descended upon the seafloor shelf, dragging the submersible along until they reached the edge of the air bubble, where they turned and pressed the submersible against the bubble.

The attendant raised his brush writing “合并” and saying, "Hébìng," causing the air bubble around the school to expand, pushing water away until it joined with the air bubble around the sub.

Fresh air and the smell of spring began flooding into the submersible. A verdant garden was in front of them, flowers of all kinds were in various states of bloom. The attendant helped each of them out of the submersible and onto the ground. It wasn’t sandy, as Yuto was expecting, but instead a soft soil.

“First years over here!” a voice called to them. The voice belonged to a regal, tall witch wearing a black pointed hat and gold-trim iromuji standing amongst a crowd of first years.

“Let’s go,” Hyunggu said, tugging on Yuto’s sleeve, before he even turned around Akari and Kimiko had disappeared.

“형구! 당신은 여기에 있습니다!! 이 사람 누구야?” a tall boy came running up to the pair, eagerly smiling at them. His face still had baby fat and his robes looked a little short on him already.

“우석!” Hyunggu replied, equally eager, and they began speaking in Korean. Yuto supposed that speaking in a language he wasn’t too familiar with wasn’t the best experience Hyunggu ever had and that he’d rather spend more time with this other boy. Yuto guessed his first friend wasn’t meant to last and that he’d have to find other friends in the near future.

“Yuto-kun, _Yuto_ - _kun_!” Hyunggu broke Yuto out of his thoughts.

“Sorry?” Yuto asked, refocusing on the current situation: both of the other boys were looking at him expectantly.

“This is Wooseok-ssi, I met him on the ferry ride over to Wuxia,” Hyunggu said in Japanese.

“Hi, Yuto-kun,” Wooseok said, bowing, “I'm Wooseok, it’s nice to meet you.”

“Ah! You speak Japanese too?” Yuto asked, surprised, bowing in return. “Wooseok-ssi? I’m Adachi Yuto, nice to meet you.”

“I watch some anime,” Wooseok said, a little proudly, “But I took some lessons at school too...”

“Anime? One Piece? Naruto? Shaman King?” Yuto prodded.

“One Piece!” Wooseok shouted happily.

“Ah! I love One Piece!” Yuto cheered.

More and more students piled in behind them as they conversed. They talked about anime, their journeys to Wuxia, and the two of them taught Yuto a couple of Korean words. Wooseok’s older sister also attended Wuxia; Hyunggu had a younger sister, but doubted she’d join them, as his family were magunai.

“Silence!” the professor pointed her brush at her throat, amplifying her voice, “May I have your attention please? I am Miyamori Chiko, and I am here to guide you through your first day at Wuxia. I will take you to the inner courtyard where you will see the school’s crest in the centre of the courtyard. One by one, I will call your name and ask you to stand on the crest. There are 5 guardians and pillars of strength here at Wuxia: Genbu, Seiryuu, Suzaku, Byakko, and Kirin. In a moment’s time you will be chosen by one of them and as your guardian they will guide you through your 6 years here at Wuxia.”

“Genbu, the tortoise, values enduring students who are diligent and patient. Seiryuu, the dragon, values wise students who are creative and original. Suzaku, the bird, values cheerful students, who are jubilant and fierce. Byakko, the tiger, values daring students, who are brave and courageous. Kirin values reserved students who are regal and loyal. Other students chosen by the same guardian will act as your cohort, you will have the same dormitory and classes. After your guardian chooses you, they will show you to your common room where older students of your cohort will want to greet you. Follow me.”

The first years lined up and followed Miyamori-sensei through the verdant garden approaching the school’s aquamarine walls.

“Which guardian do you think will pick you?” Hyunggu asked nervously. “I didn’t know we would be split up like this.”

“I think the tiger is pretty cool,” Wooseok replied, his eyes shining.

Miyamori-sensei magically opened the double doors leading into one of the towers of the school, then continued walking inwards. The inside of this tower was azure with sprouts and sapling trees of many sizes along the walls. It smelt distinctly like a pine forest inside.

Yuto chuckled. “My brush has a kirin core, so maybe mine’s already been picked.”

Wooseok gasped. “I have bonghwang feather in my brush, does that mean I’ve been picked by birds?” he then began imitating a pecking bird, causing Yuto to laugh again.

“I don’t think that’ll matter,” Hyunggu giggled, “There’s no tortoise or tiger cores…”

“That you know of!” Wooseok pointed out. “We don't make brushes! There’s dragon's mane, why not tortoise or tiger fur?”

“Because tortoises and tigers aren’t magical,” Hyunggu said.

“Why not?”

“Because I knew about them before I knew about magic,” Hyunggu laughed. The whole exchange had Yuto laughing the whole time.

Their laughter and mirth was cut short with a respectful silence replacing it after they entered the wide courtyard that was in the middle of Wuxia, above them they could see the sea that surrounded them, magical rays of light illuminated the school matching the position of the sun above the ocean. There were stone benches, trees, and tables placed throughout the courtyard. The gentle splash of water from a black fountain in the shape of a tortoise wrestling a snake lay at the north end. 

In the middle was an enlarged version of the school’s emblem: a pentagram that contained a black tortoise surrounded by snow at the top, a white tiger in a shower of amber leaves to the left, an azure dragon with blooming flowers on the right, a vermillion bird below a blazing sun, and a majestic yellow kirin in the middle of it all.

Miyamori-sensei stood just barely off to the side of the emblem and unrolled a long scroll in front of her. “When I call your name, you will step forward onto the emblem, and the guardians will choose you. Afterwards, you will be escorted to your dormitory. You will be escorted again by some older students to the dining hall when the start of term feast is ready. Let's begin: Ding Wen-Bo.”

A small boy struggled through to the front of the crowd and walked to the emblem. He stood on the emblem and everyone breathed in, waiting for the guardians to appear. For a few seconds longer nothing happened, then suddenly Yuto could smell cold metal and a tiger roared, this surprised him who grabbed Hyunggu’s hand. Hyunggu looked at Yuto questioningly, but responded in kind, squeezing gently.

A white palanquin materialized besides the emblem, flanked by huge pangolins.

“They will take you to your dorm,” Miyamori-sensei reiterated as the boy looked confused at her. He then clambered in, then the pangolins picked up the palanquin and took off towards the western tower.

“Bai Lanlan.” A girl came to the front and walked onto the emblem. After a moment Yuto could taste roasted marshmallows, a bird cried, and an enormous bird made of fire scooped her up and began taking her to one of the southern towers.

“What if we aren’t picked by the same guardian?” Hyunggu suddenly whispered to Yuto and Wooseok. “We won’t have class together?”

The sound of waves crashing onto the beach roared alongside a tortoise’s bellow and the next student was teetering on top of a wave towards the northern tower.

“It’s not like we can’t see each other,” Yuto said, squeezing Hyunggu’s hand again, “We go to the same school after all.”

The smell of cold metal wafted through again alongside the tiger’s roar and another student climbed into a palanquin.

Wooseok put a hand on Hyunggu’s shoulder. “We’ll still have classes together. Not every class is just with your cohort, sometimes there’s two or more together.” Hyunggu took a deep breath, squeezed Yuto’s hand, and breathed out.

Yuto noticed that sometimes the reaction was immediate, other times it took a little longer. The student currently waiting on the emblem had been standing there for a few minutes before there was a burst of orange-yellow leaves as a large wooden dragon zoomed to the eastern tower they had walked through to come to the courtyard.

“An Yan.” A tall handsome boy barely took a step onto the emblem when a kirin cried and they could feel soft sand between their toes. A majestic kirin made of sand emerged from the ground, and bowed down on its front legs, allowing the boy to climb on, before it took off for one of the southern towers.

A large portion of the first years who had lined up with them were now gone, about less than half were remaining. Yuto wasn’t used to getting called in the middle or end, since his last name started with “A”.

“Aikawa Nanase.” 

Oh. They were going in order of Chinese students first, then Japanese students, it appeared to Yuto. That meant he didn’t have much longer to wait.

“Adachi Yuto,” professor Miyamori called, catching him off guard.

Hyunggu squeezed his hand and Wooseok thumped him on the back, pushing him out in front of everyone else. He looked up at Miyamori-sensei one more time, she merely gestured over to the emblem with a quick nod.

Yuto slowly walked up to the emblem. He felt a wave of energy wash over him - he had felt the effects of all of the previous guardians choosing other students before him, but now that he was standing on the emblem it was surprisingly serene - quiet. He could hear the running water from the fountain, the rustle of the leaves in the trees, the jostle and shuffle of students yet to be called - but no guardian. He stood still, unsure of what to do next. 

Suddenly a kirin roared out, causing him to jump and shout, as he felt the feeling of warm soft sand between his toes. Everyone else giggled at his reaction, as a majestic kirin made of sand unearthed itself beside him, leaning down on its front legs to let him climb on. Yuto's cheeks burned as he clambered onto the kirin. He spared a look towards Hyunggu and Wooseok who gave him a thumbs up behind suppressed giggles, before the kirin galloped away.

Disoriented and now on a galloping earth kirin, he merely held on tight around its neck. He recognized the double doors leading into a tower, but it was different than the one he had entered with the other first year students. Benches made of grey smooth stone lined the walls and the floor was soft soil. There was a set of stairs that spiraled up in the middle of the tower, but the kirin had walked up to a yellow door and leaned down for Yuto to dismount.

Yuto looked at his brief companion and petted it. “Thank you,” he said quietly to the kirin. It nodded and then turned its head to the single door.

Yuto took a breath and pushed the door open, not quite sure what to expect on the other side. There was a sudden bang and clapping as Yuto entered. Startled by the noise, he jumped into the door.

“Welcome!” he heard several voices shout out.

“Ah, sorry about that,” an older student with high cheekbones said, a wide smile on his face. He and the girl with long brown-highlighted hair standing beside him were holding their brushes to their own throats. They had both taken off their hanten and were wearing only the white button-down shirt and accompanying black pants and skirt of the Wuxia school uniform. “It’s sort of tradition to welcome first years like that.”

“It’s okay,” Yuto muttered, closing the door. The inside of the room was wide, the walls were yellow and caramel, and it smelled faintly of a mountain lodge. A fire calmly burned in a fireplace on one side of the room, and several tables and armchairs were placed throughout the room. There were shelves lined with books as well. Some other first year students were sitting at the desks as well, and a few other older students stood around as well. The handsome boy (Yan An?) from before eyed Yuto before looking away to talk to the student sitting across from him.

“Well,” the girl continued, “Welcome to the Kirin common room! This is probably where you will end up spending a lot of time as a student here! What’s your name? I’m a third year, Kim Jennie, and this is Yoo Kihyun, a second year.”

“Adachi Yuto,” Yuto replied, bowing, “Please treat me well.”

“Oh, the sorting is getting close to finishing then?” Kihyun asked, ushering Yuto to sit in one of the comfy armchairs, he perched himself on the arm of the seat, “If they’ve moved onto Japanese students.”

“Yes, I think so. There was about half of the first years remaining when I got called.” Yuto said, finding himself rather comfortable in the chair, “Why are you holding your brush to your throat? Miyamori-sensei did the same.”

“Translator spell,” Kihyun said, releasing his brush, “We aren’t sure who’s coming through the door so it’s better to use it than to freak someone out even more by speaking to them in a language they won’t understand. It's tiring on your arm though.”

“Is Japanese taught in Korean elementary schools?” Yuto asked suddenly, turning to look at Kihyun.

“No, actually I have a cousin that lives in Japan, so I started studying Japanese here.” Kihyun laughed, surprised. “Why? What are you talking about?”

“I met two Korean boys on my way here who also speak Japanese,” Yuto said quietly. “I was kind of hoping they would be chosen by the same guardian as me.”

Kihyun’s eyes softened as he understood what Yuto wanted. “You can still be friends even if you have different guardians. Two of my good friends, Hoseok and Minhyuk, were chosen by Suzaku but we’re still friends. You’ll learn to make friends with the people in this room, and those chosen by other guardians as well. There’s 6 years of studying to do after all. Did you want to learn some Korean?”

Yuto nodded and Kihyun walked him through some basic phrases.

Amidst Yuto’s Korean lesson, the faint feeling of soft sand between the toes came again. “Ah,” Kihyun said, getting up and standing in front of the door with Jennie. “Another student got picked.”

“Ok everyone, please clap once they come through the door,” Jennie reminded them.

The door opened and a gentle looking boy walked through; Yuto clapped along with everyone else, “Welcome!”

The boy looked startled at the welcoming party but smiled all the same, brushing some bangs away from his face.

“Welcome to the Kirin common room!” Jennie said again, “What’s your name? I’m a third year, Kim Jennie, and this is Yoo Kihyun, a second year.”

“Kosugi Daisuke,” the boy replied, bowing. This time Jennie ushered Daisuke to sit in an armchair by Yuto, and Kihyun returned to perch himself on the arm on Yuto’s chair.

“Nice to meet you,” Daisuke greeted the pair.

“Hi, I’m Adachi Yuto. I have a friend in Nagano who shares your name!”

The three of them began talking, and Yuto thought Daisuke had soft features that made him easy to look at.

Yuto watched the students getting chosen by Kirin, hoping that after the Japanese students, Hyunggu or Wooseok would walk through the door next. Roughly 13 more students were chosen as Kirin students, none of whom were Hyunggu or Wooseok. His hope was quashed when Miyamori-sensei entered the common room, signaling the end of the sorting. Yuto sat back, deflated. Kihyun put a hand on his shoulder comfortingly.

“Welcome, welcome,” she said as she entered, brush now pointed at her throat again. “I am so excited to meet you all. As I said before, I am Miyamori Chiko. I teach onmyodo here, which you will not be able to take until your 3rd year, as an elective. I will be your representative teacher, counsellor, and friend. If you have any concerns, please talk to me about anything. I am all ears.”

Now that Yuto had a chance to really look at her, she had a wide, welcoming smile. She was tall and beautiful, with an air of grace and command. Making sure each first year had their eyes on her, she continued.

“Now, before anything else, as I am a teacher, there is one thing I must teach you as a precaution,” Miyamori-sensei said, “It is a spell that will give you a supply of fresh oxygen, very useful, say if water floods the school, which has never happened before, by the way. Please, get your brushes out.”

She took her own brush from her throat and wrote out each character gracefully, a light from the hairs on her brush tracing where wrote the characters “氣泡罩.” 

“The characters are “air,” “bubble,” and “mask.” The incantation is slightly different from the characters: miànzhào or mentou, whichever you prefer. If you’d like to practise now there’s no harm before dinner.”

One of the handsome boys with sharp, angular features sitting at the table raised his hand.

“Yes, and what’s your name, young man?”

“Lu Tian,” he said before asking something in Mandarin.

“Well, Mr. Lu’s question was why do we need this spell if nothing has happened before. And it’s because it’s safer that you all know how to save some air for yourself now and not need it, than to have not known it when it was needed. Are there any other questions?”

She waited and watched to see if there was anything else, after a few more moments of silence she continued, “If there’s nothing else, Kim Jennie-ssi, Yoo Kihyun-ssi, please see that they practise the charm and take them down to the dining hall when it’s time. Is Adachi-kun here?”

Yuto looked up at her, alarmed, “Yes?”

“Can I see you in my office?”

Yuto looked at Kihyun, horror on his face, had he already done something wrong? Kihyun smiled reassuringly and whispered, “it’s okay. Just start of school things.”

Yuto swallowed thickly and followed Professor Miyamori out of the common room and up the central spiral staircase up to the second floor where her office was located.

There was a yellow shoji door with her name, Miyamori Chiko, on the plaque followed by "Head of Kirin; Onmyodo'' underneath it. She slid the shoji door open, and ushered Yuto in. Her office looked exactly like a tatami room which did not surprise Yuto, given the shoji door. It was decorated with an assortment of magical charts, talismans, photographs of proper brush technique, and other mystical artefacts. Encircled protective kanji inscribed in the air hung around the walls of the room and there was a missing tatami tile in the middle of the room where a fire could be started.

Professor Miyamori walked around her desk and sifted through some papers, before looking up, embarrassed, “My apologies, Adachi-kun, it appears I've left some things in the teacher’s lounge, would you mind waiting here while I go get it?”

"Not at all, Miyamori-sensei," Yuto replied politely.

“Thank you, help yourself to some tea,” she said, before quickly ducking out of the room, sliding the door closed behind her. 

Yuto inspected more of the objects around the room avidly. There was a self-trimming bonsai tree, a short and wide white candle that lit with a ghostly purple fire when he held it, and an hourglass where the sand floated upwards instead of falling down. A fire had lit itself in the missing tatami tile to begin brewing tea in an ornate round teapot. The pot whistled when the water was at a rolling boil (Yuto found some leaves in a clear container next to the pot’s stand) and sang when the leaves had steeped.

Yuto looked around quickly for a cup, and found one had materialized in his hand. He took the pot off of the fire and poured himself some tea, sitting on his knees by the gentle fire now.

The door slid open a few moments later and Professor Miyamori came in with a few scrolls and books in her hands, “Thank you for waiting.”

“Not at all,” Yuto replied politely.

“Now,” she said, pouring herself some tea as well, then making her way to the other side of the hearth, “I apologize for calling you into my office abruptly, it is practice that the representative teachers have a short one on one with the new first year students before the feast to discuss schedules, inform you how your schooling is expected to turn out, and in case you have questions you didn’t want to ask in front of the other students. Firstly, do you have any questions?”

“No,” Yuto lied. He wanted to ask if Miyamori-sensei remembered which guardians chose Hyunggu and Wooseok but he also realised that she probably would not remember who went to which house after sorting every first year. He also figured that this conversation was not for that kind of question.

She looked at him calculatingly but smiled kindly, “That’s good. Now, as you know, this is an international school, therefore you must pick two additional languages to add onto your curriculum. There’s Hong Kong Cantonese, English, Japanese, Korean, and Mandarin, but obviously, as a Japanese student, you can’t take Japanese.”

“Korean, please,” he said quickly. “And...Mandarin.”

Miyamori-sensei wrote “timetable” with her brush over a fresh leaf of paper, and then handed it to Yuto. “There are seven streams of classes here at Wuxia: Sun, Moon, Fire, Water, Wood, Metal, and Earth. You will automatically be enrolled in the base class of each stream for your first 2 years. Starting in your 3rd year you will have the option to diversify your course stream and take electives such as the subject I teach, onmyodo, and at the end of that year there’s the SNAKEs, which are exams that determine which courses you can take in your final 3 years. In your 4th year you will have more control over your schedule, depending on your SNAKE results you may choose to enroll in applicable advanced courses. At the end of your 6th year there are FOXs which will be determinant in your job prospects and post-secondary education after your schooling is finished.”

“Okay,” Yuto said numbly, absorbing all of the information being thrown at him.

She smiled kindly again, “I know this can be a lot. Please remember at any time if you need me, I am available to talk to. Coursework, magic, even if you want general advice. I am here.”

Yuto nodded and smiled gratefully, “Thank you very much, sensei.”

She looked at Yuto meaningfully, as if she had an important piece of information to divulge to him. “Alright, if you have no more questions, please ask Kosugi-kun to come in here.”

Having nothing pertinent to ask, Yuto nodded and stood up, leaving her office. 

He walked back to the common room and sent Daisuke up to her office. The cushy armchair welcomed Yuto again as Kihyun walked him through the spell work for the air mask spell again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yell at me at my [ tumblr ](https://thewickedwizardofoz.tumblr.com)
> 
> Hanten = a short overcoat 
> 
> From now on I plan on updating the last Friday of every month! I hope you enjoy! Please comment and leave kudos and continue to support me!
> 
> 氣泡 - lit. Air bubble  
> 合并 - lit. merge  
> 氣泡罩 - lit. Air bubble mask, i made it as an analogue to the bubble head charm.  
> Sensei, Laoshi, Seonsaeng, all mean teacher in Japanese, Mandarin, and Korean, respectively.
> 
> I am aware that the classical Chinese elements which also correlate with each of the guardians have their own prescribed personality traits; however, when I decided I was going to have the guardians I picked the attributes based on the guardians rather than their elements, so most of the guardians have differing traits from their elemental traits. (For example, water is aligned with wisdom, creativity, etc, which I ascribed to Seiryuu instead).
> 
> 玄武 - Genbu, the tortoise, values enduring students who are patient and kind. Located in the north tower and associated with winter and water. Their school colour is black (and lowkey blue).  
> 青竜 - Seiryuu, the dragon, values wise students who are creative and original. Located in the west tower and associated with spring and wood. Their school colour is green.  
> 朱雀 - Suzaku, the bird, values cheerful students who are jubilant and fierce. Located in the south-east tower and associated with summer and fire. Their school colour is red.  
> 白虎 - Byakko, the tiger, values brave students who are courageous and daring. Located in the East tower and associated with autumn and metal. Their school colour is white.  
> 麒麟 - Kirin values reserved students who are regal and loyal. Located in the south-west tower and associated with midsummer and earth. Their school colour is yellow.
> 
> 봉황 - Bonghwang, a Korean mythical fire bird, similar to a Phoenix
> 
> SNAKEs: Secondarily Necessitated Accrued Knowledge Examination  
> FOXs: Final Obstructive eXamination.


	4. Extinguished Sunrise

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Having thought about the subject more, I am uncomfortable continuing to work on this fanfiction which pays homage and heavily borrows from the Wizard World. As I am not a transwoman, JKR's words and hateful ideas do not directly impact me; therefore, it is all the more important that I listen to the women who ARE impacted and targeted by her transmisogyny.
> 
> It is not longer about just enjoying content.  
> My nostalgia is not more important than the lives and voices of transwomen.
> 
> It is not my place to continue generating content for the Wizarding World if we want JKR to fall away from the spotlight and truly stand in solidarity with transwomen. It is one thing to enjoy the books and movies that I already purchased - it is completely inappropriate of me to call myself an ally if I were to continue supporting and creating a positive space for JKR to flourish (algorithms do not distinguish between my critical consumption of HP and others who do not).
> 
> So, for the time being this fic will go on hiatus. I decided to post this chapter as I had already completed it, and as a thank you to you if you read my work, left kudos, or subscribed! However, I am hoping to eventually rework my fic and world to exclude the Wizarding World and hopefully continue as its own thing as solely a Kpop Magic-AU fanficton. Until then, stay safe, listen to and support transwomen, and I hope you enjoy!

“The dining hall is on the first floor of Suzaku Tower,” Jennie informed the first years as they walked through the high arched hallways. Jennie and Kihyun had decided that it was close enough to the feast to begin taking them to the dining hall. “It’s where all of our dinners and breakfasts are; however, there are also snack bars in every tower in case you don’t want to trek to Suzaku Tower for a bite to eat such as during lunch or other times of the day.”

“If you’re concerned about meeting up with your friends,” Kihyun said in a low voice to Yuto, “You’ll be able to eat with them at the feast. You don’t have to sit with your fellow Kirin at all meal times, or even in every class.”

“Wouldn’t that be bad etiquette? If I’m a part of this team, shouldn’t we do things together?” Yuto asked.

“You’re friends with whoever you’re friends with,” Kihyun shook his head, “It used to be rigid like that here, but more and more recently it’s become important to celebrate our differences rather than to keep up divisions so those walls started to fall away, which is why we have a Japanese headmistress now.”

“What do you mean by that?” Yuto asked sharply.

“You haven’t pieced it together?” Kihyun asked not unkindly. Yuto shook his head. “This is a Chinese school, Adachi-kun. The fact that we are here is nothing more than an appearance for the school’s administrative board. We are not the target demographic they’re trying to educate or help. You’ll notice only non-Chinese students are asked to help with certain types of things - Chinese students’ time is more valued and can’t be taken away or that the teachers, especially Chinese ones, will let Chinese students get away with more things than other students.”

Yuto frowned at that, “But, Miyamori-sensei teaches onmyodo _and_ is the representative of our guardian, and you have to take two languages - we’re an international school!”

Kihyun shrugged. “It’s alright if you don’t believe me. I would just advise you to stay away from conflicts with Chinese students, no matter their provocation. You’ll see soon enough.”

This neither relaxed nor comforted Yuto as he assumed Kihyun thought it might. They had no more time to talk about it, however, as they had reached the large and wide dining hall in Suzaku tower on the first floor. The faint smell of smoking cherrywood wafted in the air and the white walls seemed to flicker in the setting sun as a fire might.

The staff table was at the southernmost part of the hall, tall windows stood behind the long staff table shining a bright summer light into the hall, even in the early evening. There were several tables that magically changed sizes throughout the hall with empty plates and cups neatly placed on them.

Yuto scanned the hall to see who had arrived: so far only Suzaku and Byakko students were in the hall, as the older students were wearing ties that matched their guardian's colour, white and black for Byakko and red and black for Suzaku. Unsure of which guardians choose Hyunggu and Wooseok, Yuto carefully looked through the crowd hoping to spot one or both of them. Eventually he did see a tall boy with a baby face waving at him, sitting at a table for four with another tall skinny boy with an oval face and high cheekbones beside him.

However, before he could take a step forward, Tian Lu pushed past him, his sharp features aggressive as he sneered… _something_ at Yuto while he went to sit at a new table alone. Yuto stood there dumbstruck for a few moments before he finally got a hold of himself and walked to Wooseok’s table.

"Hi," Yuto greeted them hastily, bowing his head, his eyes lingered questioningly on the other boy sitting with Wooseok.

“This is my sunbae, Shinwon.” Wooseok said, understanding Yuto's look, gesturing to the boy next to him. “Shinwon, this is Yuto.”

“Yah, Wooseok-ah! It’s Shinwon- _sunbae_ ,” Shinwon corrected Wooseok, laughing. 

“Hello,” Yuto greeted him in Korean that he’d only learnt a few hours prior in Kirin’s common room, sliding into the seat across from Wooseok and Shinwon.

“Well, we meet again, Yuto-kun,” Wooseok joked, trying to break the ice. “I got picked by Suzaku! I guess the brushes got it right for us.”

Yuto giggled as Wooseok yet again mimed a bird's pecking. “And what about Hyunggu?”

“He was chosen by Genbu. Here he is now,” Wooseok commented, pointing to the entrance as Genbu students entered, both waved at Hyunggu.

Hyunggu smiled wide as he spotted them and came over, slotting in next to Yuto. “Who’s this?”

“Shinwon,” Wooseok replied.

“Shinwon- _sunbae_ ,” Shinwon corrected him, smiling, exchanging greetings with Hyunggu in Korean.

“So, you already made an enemy? What was that?” Wooseok asked in a low voice in Japanese, glancing over at Tian Lu, who was now occupied with other students at his table.

“You made an enemy?” Hyunggu asked, taken out of his conversation with Shinwon, concerned, trying to see where Wooseok was looking.

“No idea,” Yuto replied. Uneasily, Yuto snuck his own glance back at Tian Lu, the handsome boy was now laughing with the other students at his table. "When we came in, he just sort of… I don’t know, shoved passed me to sit at an empty table. He said something, but I don’t understand Chinese so I don’t know what he said."

"Jerk," Hyunggu commented.

"Anyways, have you looked at your timetables?" Yuto asked, pulling out his timetable from Miyamori-sensei, desperate to leave behind any talk of an enemy. For all he knew it was just a mistake and Tian Lu was just having a bad day.

Wooseok and Hyunggu also pulled out their schedules to compare, “Tomorrow we have double magical biology together, Yuto,” Wooseok smiled. “Ugh, that’ll be boring though. Nuna says Laoshi-Zhong is heavy on the details.”

“Genbu has potions together with Kirin!” Hyunggu said excitedly, pointing out the time slot on his and Yuto’s timetables, cutting across Wooseok, who began to pout.

“Hey, we’ll all be in Seiryuu Tower for lunch tomorrow!” Yuto pointed out, “Wooseok do you want to meet us for lunch tomorrow?”

Wooseok, still pouting, quietly said, “Okay,” although the faintest twitch of his lips told Yuto he would be smiling if not for pretending to be mad still.

“Do you know what all these courses are about? I mean, what does “magical science” or “magical biology” even mean,” Hyunggu asked, pointing at each on their timetable.

“Why don’t you ask Wooseok’s _sunbae_ ,” Yuto teased him, pointing at Shinwon. Wooseok finally grinned, even as Hyunggu took Yuto seriously and turned to Shinwon to ask him.

“Shinwon says that magical science is about talking about how magic works, magical laws, and stuff, and then turns into learning charms and stuff,” Wooseok translated for Yuto as they spoke in Korean.

Soon all the tables in the hall had filled up and there were no more students standing.

A tall witch in glamorous purple robes stood up with her brush pointed at her throat, her shiny black hair was pulled back into a tight professional bun.

“Good evening!” she greeted them, then waited for there to be silence amongst the students. “My name is Haruta Tatsuko and I am the headmistress of Wuxia Academy of Magic. To our first year students, welcome! I hope that your next 6 years with us will positively shape your destiny. To our returning students, welcome back! I hope your remaining years will be just as enlightening as the last. Just before our start of term feast I would like to make a few announcements.”

“First is a reminder that there is to be absolutely no duelling allowed amongst students. Any use of any magic intended to harm another student will be punished and dealt with severely. On a lighter note, the clubs' fare will be this Friday after classes in the courtyard. The first kishisenmei match will be announced closer to the end of April. Similarly, day trips to Wujing will be arranged later in May. And with that out of the way, thank you for this meal!”

A large pot of rice materialized in the middle of the table, along with several other meats and vegetables spread out on other plates. Yuto began scooping rice into everyone’s bowls.

“What are you smiling so widely about? You like scooping rice that much?” Wooseok asked Yuto curiously as they began eating. Hyunggu and Shinwon had begun talking to each other in Korean.

Yuto blushed, “Am I smiling that much?”

Wooseok smiled wide, flashing Yuto his sharp canines, “You look like this.”

Yuto laughed at that. “I’m just...happy to finally be here. For the last 6 years I’ve watched my siblings become real wizards, my oldest brother just graduated before I started this term, but now it’s my turn.” 

“I’ll ask you in a month if you feel the same,” Wooseok chuckled, “Nuna says the homework is going to be brutal, the teachers don’t let up.”

“We’re only first year students, it can’t be that bad,” Yuto dismissed. “You have an older sister? Does she attend Wuxia as well?”

“Yeah, she’s in Genbu and she’s only a few years older than us,” Wooseok said.

“Just like Hyunggu then,” Yuto noted.

Wooseok smirked, fox-like, “Wow, I hadn’t pieced that together! Thank you so much!”

“What’s like me?” Hyunggu asked, joining their conversation as Shinwon appeared to be laughing into his rice.

“You got chosen by the same guardian as Nuna,” Wooseok said. “I couldn’t have realised until Yuto pointed it out. Must be why I’m not in Seiryuu, no wisdom.”

Yuto cackled, “I didn’t mean to say you didn’t know yourself! I just made the connection for myself!”

Hyunggu similarly giggled. “I guess I’m the older sibling here then, since Yuto has three older siblings.”

“Yeah, two older brothers and Akari-nee,” Yuto confirmed. “What about Shinwon, uh, san?”

Shinwon laughed at that. “You should call me _sunbae_ , it’s like Japanese senpai.”

“Shinwon-sunbae?”

Wooseok snorted but passed it off as a giggle. Shinwon smiled widely, “Well, since you asked so nicely, I do have an older sister studying here as well. She’s in her fifth year, and was chosen by Kirin, just like you, Yuto-yah. She’s the kishisenmei’s team’s captain.”

Yuto’s eyes sparkled, “Oh, wow! What role does she play?”

“Kwi- what?” Hyunggu asked, confused.

“She’s one of the vanguards!” Shinwon replied happily, “She’s always been a good flier, so it’s not a surprise.”

“I’ve always wanted to play on a real team! My older brother, Tooru, trained as a ninja at Tsuruga, the magic academy of Nagano.” Yuto began eagerly speaking in Japanese; Wooseok translated as much as he could for Shinwon while Hyunggu pouted into his rice that nobody kept him up to speed. “I think I’d like to tryout as a kyosha as well when tryouts open.”

“Oh... first years often aren’t allowed onto the kishisenmei teams,” Wooseok said slowly, translating for Shinwon. “The teachers want students to adjust to life here before they begin taking on more and more. And they want to approve of your glyph ability before allowing you to use a flight glyph.”

At that, Yuto’s smile quickly faded, “Oh.”

“Well, anyways, I’m excited for potions tomorrow! It seems like chemistry, but...practical.” Hyunggu jumped in quickly, to attempt to dissipate the tense air that suddenly clouded their table. “I’m sure you’ll get your chance to play soon, Yuto-kun."

Yuto nodded with a small thanks to Hyunggu.

“Potion brewing is fun! Sometimes I help my mom with some home brewing,” Shinwon said, “But, personally I would look forward to elemancy for casting some real magic; you’ll finally feel like a real wizard.”

“What’s chemistry?” Wooseok asked, his nose crinkled.

“It’s like...the magunai scientific study of how elements come together,” Yuto explained slowly.

“Wouldn’t that be elemancy then?” Wooseok countered. “Wait, aren’t scientists always evil?”

“No, no, not like fire, water, wood elements. Like...oxygen, mercury elements,” Yuto said. “And like the study of their parts. No! Scientists are just researchers.”

“Okay,” Wooseok said unconvinced, “Maybe something’s lost in translation.”

Hyunggu, Yuto assumed, began explaining chemistry in Korean; Wooseok and Shinwon nodded along to Hyunggu’s explanation. Yuto also nodded solemnly, hoping to add gravitas to whatever Hyunggu was saying.

Dessert had come and gone when their table was approached by Kihyun, who had rolled up the sleeves of his button down for dinner, tie hanging untied around his neck, looking very cool as he swaggered over. Yuto could’ve sworn Kihyun coolly ran his hand through his hair as he walked up.

“Ah! Kihyun-ah!” Shinwon greeted the 2nd year Kirin student. “Here to join the party?”

“Hi, Shinwon-ssi,” he smiled back politely. “Sorry, no, I’m here for Adachi-kun. Miyamori-sensei is requesting all the Kirin first years to come back to the dorm to show them how to enter. I suspect your teachers will be doing the same soon enough,” he said looking meaningfully at Hyunggu and Wooseok.

“Okay, I’ll see you guys tomorrow,” Yuto said sadly, patting Hyunggu’s shoulder and giving Wooseok a fist-bump. “Nice to meet you, Shinwon-sunbae.”

Shinwon smiled back at Yuto, gregariously waving bye at him, “Bye!”

“See you tomorrow,” Hyunggu and Wooseok chorused, waving at Yuto as he was whisked away by Kihyun.

“Sorry about that, Adachi-kun. Are those the two Korean boys you mentioned earlier?” Kihyun asked gently as they walked back to Kirin Tower.

“Yeah, they are. It’s okay, Kihyun-sunbae, I had a good time at dinner,” Yuto said gently. “Thank you for letting me know I could eat with them.”

Yuto continued to stare at Kihyun’s rolled up sleeves, he looked really cool. Kihyun blushed under Yuto’s gaze, “Is there something on my arm?” he asked, wildly turning them over, looking to see what Yuto might have been looking at.

“No, you just look really cool like this, sunbae,” Yuto said simply.

“Thanks,” Kihyun flushed at that, pushing up the sleeves on his shirt. “Wait, did… did you just call me _sunbae_?”

“Yeah, Shinwon-sunbae said I should. Like senpai, right?” Yuto said absently. “Oh, should I not? Was he playing a prank on me? Neither Hyunggu nor Wooseok said it was wrong...”

“No, no, that’s right,” Kihyun said gently. “But, you can just call me Kihyun-ah, if you want to add anything at all, like Shinwon-ssi did when he greeted me. I noticed it earlier, but there wasn’t time to say anything to you: there’s no need to be so formal with me, Adachi-kun, talk to me like a friend.”

“Then, Kihyun-ah, thanks. And you too, just call me Yuto,” Yuto smiled. “Wait, what about everyone else? You only came to get me?”

“Yuto then," Kihyun smiled. "You were furthest from the door, Jennie-yah rounded up everyone else before I saw you there. Everyone has gone back with her already.”

“Oh, I’m the last one to get back?” Yuto asked.

Kihyun nodded. “It’s not a big deal. I think most of the other first years ate together.”

Yuto nodded absentmindedly as they ascended the central spiral staircase in Kirin tower, flameless torches illuminated the way. On the third floor, the staircase was enclosed by four walls, which Yuto assumed was another layer of protection for their dorm rooms. 

“Our dorm rooms are on the third floor, here,” Kihyun informed him as they got off the stairs on the third floor, stopping in front of an ornate golden door. “Take out your brush. In order to get through the door onto our dormitory floor you have to write your name with your brush on the door.”

Yuto nodded, pulling out his brush, then writing his name on the door. There was a brief pause where Yuto thought maybe he did something wrong, then he heard a tiny click, and the door swung open.

The hallway was illuminated by gorgeous scallop shells hanging on the walls, light emitting from along the tips. Majestic artistic paintings took up the expanse of wall from the floor up to the ceiling, depicting all sorts of battles, creatures, and other historical moments. Miyamori-sensei was standing with four boys in front of a door with the number 1 on it not too far away from the stairs. Yuto recognized Daisuke and Yan An, but not the two other boys.

“Ah, Adachi-kun. Thank you, Kihyun-ssi.” Miyamori-sensei greeted them. "This is the door to all first year rooms. Now that 5 of you are here I will need your brushes very briefly."

All five gave her their brushes. Upon closer inspection, Yuto realized there were 5 small holes in the door in a similar pattern to the towers of Wuxia. Professor Miyamori inserted a brush into each hole, then produced her own and wrote 同屋 before chanting an incantation. 

She turned to them, "Now, one at a time, come pull your brush out and then write your name." 

Daisuke's brush was at the northern position so he went first, however, unlike when Yuto opened the door to get onto this floor, Daisuke's name remained on the door. They each then took their turns pulling out their brush and writing their name. After all five of them finished writing their names, the similar click sounded and the door swung open.

"This will be your dorm room," Miyamori-sensei said, gesturing for them to enter.

Daisuke raised his hand, "Sorry sensei, did you say that all of the first year rooms were also behind the door?"

Miyamori-sensei smiled, “Yes, I did say all the first year rooms are behind this door. When you wish to enter, you must write your name with your brush and it will take you to the appropriate room.”

“There must be about 30 of us! What if we all try to leave at the same time? There's only one door.”

"So, Kosugi-kun's question is ‘what if everyone tries to leave at the same time? There's only one door?’ Or so it seems. There are as many doors as there are rooms, they are all connected to this door, they will overlap in space if you all exit at the same time, but you will not. You will all be able to exit safely. By putting all the doors together through this one door it's harder for students to get lost and also means it's harder for students or others to break into your dorm room," Miyamori-sensei explained. "Are there any more questions?"

With no more questions, Kihyun took the 5 of them into their room for the year, while Miyamori-sensei left them. Taking off their shoes as they entered, they took stock of their new room for the year. Across from the door was a single window, letting in light from the outside (Yuto reminded himself that the sky he was looking at outside the tower was only an enchanted sky, set to mimic the sky above their position in the ocean). There was another door that went into a small washroom near the window as well.

There were 5 beds, each of their luggages had been placed at the foot of a bed, along with a new yellow and black striped tie. The bed sheets were black and with a gold trim. When Yuto sat on the bed where his luggage was, it was soft and seemingly invited him to sleep.

“Alright, let’s do introductions,” Kihyun said, watching the 5 of them settle onto the beds with their luggage. “Say your name and one interesting thing like where you’re from. Let’s start with you!”

He pointed at the handsome boy whose bangs stopped just shy of his eyes. The boy pointed at himself questioningly and Kihyun nodded. He began speaking in Mandarin. It soon dawned on Kihyun and the boy from the blank stares from everyone else that nobody else in this dorm room understood anything he said. When he finished speaking, the boy coughed, embarrassed, and looked down at his folded hands in his lap.

“Well,” Kihyun started after he finished talking, trying to keep his voice airy and light, “This is An Yan. He was born in Hokkaido but currently lives in Shanghai.” He then spoke directly to Yan An in Mandarin, which Yuto assumed was words of encouragement, as he smiled after hearing Kihyun’s words.

“Hi, I’m Kosugi Daisuke, my twin Tarusuke was chosen by Byakko, so you may see another student with my face walking around with a red tie. He is a lot less friendly than I am, however, so I wouldn’t suggest approaching him,” Daisuke laughed.

“Hi, I’m Chae Hyungwon, I’m from Gwangju,” his eyes were fluttering between being open and being closed, he looked skinny and frail. “I really like to sleep.”

“I’m Choi Saki, I’m half-Japanese and half-Korean,” he looked the exact opposite of Hyungwon. If not for the fact that he was Yuto’s roommate, he would’ve thought he was an older student, his shoulders wide and voice already deeper than the rest of theirs.

“Pleased to meet you all. My name is Adachi Yuto, and I’m from Nagano.”

After they introduced themselves to each other, Kihyun declared that they should get ready for bed and rest up for their first day of lessons, before writing his name on the door and leaving to enter his own dorm room.

Some of the other boys began talking a little bit more, getting to know each other. Yuto briefly joined in, but was feeling rather sleepy himself; Hyungwon had already brushed his teeth and pulled the covers over his head. Somewhere along the way they all pulled on their pyjamas and let the bedsheets invite them to sleep. Closing his eyes, he drifted off peacefully to sleep.

Yuto dreamed of himself in a classroom full of his peers, but they were all faceless and seemingly glaring at him. Already an auspicious start.

When Yuto looked up at the teacher, they were staring back at Yuto. Although their visage was similarly faceless as all of his classmates, Yuto could tell the teacher was glaring at him, "Adachi-san, what are the principles of magically wading through a human's mind?"

Yuto's mouth was dry and he couldn't think of the answer. He didn't even think that was a possible question. His eyes searched for a hint on the teacher’s face.

Picking up on Yuto not knowing the answer, the teacher began talking again, “Alright then, what feasts on a child’s life force to survive?”

There was nothing but static and fear in Yuto’s head, he felt the vague inklings of an answer but it was stuck, like a rock in the riverbed.

"What happens to a spell that has undergone recursion?" 

Yuto wracked his brain, but was still unable to come up with any potential answer.

"A barrier against fire is best made with what energy?"

His peers laughed at him and the professor sneered as Yuto stammered nothing in response.

“One last question then, what has gone cold that most insist is still lukewarm?”

“I don’t know,” Yuto’s silence finally punctured, but not with anything that would’ve answered any of the questions posed.

"It seems there’s been a mistake: you're not a real wizard after all, Adachi-san. We will be taking your brush now and you will be asked to leave the school grounds immediately."

Yuto looked around, hoping to find a friendly face, someone to help him, maybe by looking somewhere else the professor would ignore him. He spotted Akari sitting a few rows behind him, but her classic scowl was on her face, causing Yuto to shrink, "You wasted all of our time, mom and dad's money…"

No!

He was a real wizard now. He finally made it! He had conjured water! 

“Yuto-kun…” he heard his mom’s voice echoing, disappointment ringing louder than any alarm he’d ever heard, “If I knew how much of a disgrace you were going to be I would’ve thrown you away.”

“You _always_ had been my least favourite child,” his father’s stern voice echoed in his head. “I think it would be better for everyone if you just left.”

The classroom and its inhabitants dissolved into darkness. The chair underneath Yuto gave way and he began falling endlessly, his arms and legs flailed as he attempted to grab hold of anything, his scream voiceless. The echoes of his parents’ disappointments rampaged all around him.

“ _Come to me_ ,” an eerie voice called out to him, cold and clear, cutting through the echoes of his parents.

A new wave of fear surged through Yuto’s body, his real body this time - he jolted awake in a cold sweat, and instantly rushed to grab his brush, breathing hard. His throat was dry. He hadn’t learned any magic yet, but somehow holding onto his brush grounded him. Aside from the gentle snores and breathing of his roommates, he could also hear a low ominous hum. As his eyes adjusted to the darkness he could see a single stream of moonlight streaming through the window, illuminating one of his roommate’s beds.

He turned his head from side to side, trying to see if he could discern where the sound was coming from. No matter which way he oriented his head, he couldn’t tell where the sound was coming from; the low hum stayed the same pitch. Tenderly, he lifted his sheets and trotted out of bed, careful to not make any noise.

Walking to the washroom he closed the door and flicked on the lights. The low hum was still incessantly bothering him the same amount in the washroom as it was on his bed. The splash of cool water onto his face did nothing to ease him. It felt like something was calling out to him.

Raising his brush, he wrote 泉 and muttered “ _izumi_ ,” over a cup, taking a sip. He let go of a sigh of relief as the cup filled with water - he was a wizard. As he drank the cold, clean, clear water, it helped to ground him through whatever he was feeling. “Tojiru.” He downed the rest of the water and put the cup back on the shelf.

He quietly scurried back to his bed, too hot to lay under the covers, and closed his eyes hoping for sleep. The low hum was nagging him incessantly, keeping him awake. Just as his eyes felt tired enough to close and sleep, the hum became sharp, keeping him awake again.

“ _It seems there’s been a mistake_ ,” the line repeated itself in Yuto’s head no matter what he thought about. His parents’ ire and disappointment was nothing compared to his own when he thought about not being a wizard.

Yuto groaned as the morning sun greeted him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 旗幟鮮明 - Kishisenmei, a magical sport with teams of 7. It will be expanded upon in the future :)


	5. Lesson Number One

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy New Year all!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Welcome back to the Yuto Adachi series alskdasd.
> 
> I apologize for the wait, it took me some time to figure out how I wanted to proceed. Thank you for staying and reading this far if you are returning from prior to my hiatus, and I hope you enjoy! If you are joining for the first time, I hope you enjoy too :)
> 
> I have recently updated the first 4 chapters, mostly to remove details/plots regarding the Wizarding World franchise. If you don't want to read it again for what are mostly minor changes I'll put them in my notes at the end! I don't think I mention anything in this chapter that directly referenced anything I took out, so you can read it with what you remember of the plot from the first few chapters I hope!
> 
> The most important one: I've changed the start time of Wuxia to be more in line with Asian schooling, so Wuxia begins their first term of the year on the 1st day of the 3rd month in the lunar calendar, will have a summer break in August, Winter break at the end of December, and end the school year in March. So it is now April 2010, instead of September 2010 like it was originally.

Yuto groaned, groggy as he lay on the sheets, he had not slept since he had woken up in the middle of his dream as the low hum continued to bother him just as he thought he was about to sleep. The others had also risen and began their morning routines. The rumblings of his roommates seemed to lower the noise of the hum, which quietly slipped away as he began his day.

Despite the lack of sleep, Yuto did everything with a sort of spring to his step - his first magic lessons were today! However, as Wooseok predicted, Yuto’s reverie and excitement would wane by the time he received homework, which was only an hour into his first day.

Yuto sat in history first thing in the morning. The classroom was on the 5th floor of Kirin tower and faced the summer sector of the school grounds. The teacher was short and shy; his black robes enveloped his body, and he seemed to have a lot of fun swishing them about.

“Good morning class, my name is Myeong Daewon,” he said, lazily flicking his brush to enchant the whiteboard marker to write his name on the board. “This is the first class of your Metal stream, which will deal with man-made subjects such as law and literature. As you will see on your timetables, this is history, where we will discuss social problems in the present along with the historical context that led to those problems.”

Myeong-seonsaeng boredly took roll call then dove immediately into his lecture: the magunai people had “government” and the magical people had “collective”, two analogous structures. Both had liaisons between the two branches and they operated mostly parallel to each other - meaning that although they were aware of each other, they tended not to get mixed in with each other’s affairs. However, the International Collective had legal and punishing powers in all states signed to it, whereas the United Nations did not.

The liaisons must have plenty of time on their hands then, Yuto thought as he struggled to keep up with Myeong-seonsaeng’s fast pace. His classmates also seemed to be struggling as there was a constant cacophony of scratching pens and pencils following Myeong-seonsaeng’s lecture. The whiteboard marker he had enchanted seemed to have no problems drawing diagrams and copying everything he said neatly and quickly, however.

At the end of class, Myeong-seonsaeng assigned them an essay discussing whether or not they believed there should be an integrated structure for the government and the collective, or whether it was better to keep them separated.

Potions took place on the second floor of Seiryuu tower. Yuto managed to run into Hyunggu in the Seiryuu foyer, where they had first entered Wuxia together. The smell of pine in the Seiryuu foyer wafted through his nose.

“Good morning!” Hyunggu sang, as they ascended the stairs to the second floor.

“Good morning. You’re very awake,” Yuto commented tiredly. “What class did you have this morning?”

“I didn’t have anything before this,” Hyunggu smiled. “Wednesday nights are Genbu’s astronomy lecture time, so on Thursday mornings our lectures start an hour later. Since we arrived on a Wednesday, I just got to sleep in a little bit more.”

Yuto rubbed his face, hoping to get some tiredness out of it. “Lucky.”

“You’ll get your day to sleep in soon,” Hyunggu said soothingly, patting him on the shoulder as they stopped in front of the class listed on their timetable.

“No, actually I was up all night and couldn’t sleep,” Yuto said gravely. “Something was bothering me.”

“Why? What happened?” Hyunggu asked, concerned.

Before Yuto could say anything else, Yin-laoshi, a frail-looking hunched-over witch who seemed to be pulling herself along when walking, with robes that reminded Yuto of a green lab coat, opened the door to the Potions classroom and beckoned for them to enter. Now that he had a break to consider what he was about to say, would it even be worth it to tell Hyunggu, or Wooseok, about the low hum that kept him awake? About the nightmare that consumed him? 

He had just met Hyunggu and Wooseok, would they believe him if he told them? Would there even be anything to say? Any advice to offer? Maybe it would be better if he left it alone.

The potions classroom reminded Yuto of a science lab with long rectangular tables and high stools. Sitting on the teacher’s desk were three different cauldrons, a brass, a copper, and a pewter one, along with a mirror above the desk to show students the inside of the cauldron from their seats. Hyunggu and Yuto sat by the window but close to the front. 

“Good morning class,” she said, walking slowly to the front of the classroom. Followed by silence, she turned a surprisingly stern glare to the class, “Let’s try that again. When I say “good morning class” you will all respond with ‘Good morning, Yin-laoshi.’ Good morning, class.”

“Good morning Yin-laoshi,” they sounded back in various languages.

“Good." She gently indicated to the chalkboard behind her, "Potions will be your first course of the water stream, which is designated as the "lifeblood" classes. You will learn about magical ways of enhancing, dampening, or otherwise altering the body. If you wish to be a doctor or shaman of some sort, I recommend you pay close attention."

Then, her stern voice returned, "Now, potions is not a class for the foolhardy or unrefined. Any mistake _will_ ruin your potion, wasting your time, my time, as well as the ingredients you dumped in. I expect precision and perfection. There will be no disruptions, no rowdiness, no buffoonery allowed. We are working with fire, sharp objects, and ingredients that can be dangerous when handled improperly. Any dissent will be promptly kicked from the class and you will not be allowed to return, am I clear?” her glare turned again to the class, as if daring someone to allow her to make an example of them.

Students around the room murmured understanding, nodding along, writing things down in their notebooks.

“Now, we will not be brewing any potions for the first few classes. After all, you all will have varying levels of magical knowledge upon arriving here at Wuxia. First, we will take a quiz so that I may gauge the class’s abilities and adjust the curriculum thereafter,” she said, writing 分配 with her brush at a stack of single leaflets, causing them to distribute themselves amongst the students. “This is not for marks and I will not treat you differently for not knowing anything. Please do not cheat or attempt to answer anything you do not know. It is better for your own learning if you answer truthfully and honestly.”

Hyunggu worriedly looked at Yuto, who gave him back a thumbs up as the papers landed in front of them.

  1. _What is the difference between copper, brass, and pewter cauldrons? Be as specific as possible._
  2. _What kind of knife is best for cutting potion ingredients?_
  3. _Is there a catch-all antidote to most poisons?_
  4. _What are other names for the plant aconite and which part is used in potioneering?_
  5. _What is the healing component of a Tsuyoji Potion?_
  6. _What is the difference between dragon and longma blood? Answer in regards to potioneering._
  7. _Is there a difference between slicing and shaving leaves for potion ingredients?_



Yuto could definitely answer some of these questions, but not all of them. Cauldron type determined the brewing speed, pewter the slowest and copper the fastest. An obsidian knife is extremely sharp and can cut down to the cellular level, although brittle. Dittany is the healing ingredient in tsuyoji potions. Slicing leaves is the easiest way to make leaves smaller for potions, but shaving gets more essence out of the leaves.

“Time is up, pens down please,” Yin-laoshi announced after about 10 minutes. “ _Shoukan_ ,” she muttered, summoning all of the quizzes to her.

“I didn’t know anything,” Hyunggu groaned. “Nothing I read last night was on there.”

“I didn’t know everything either,” Yuto whispered, patting Hyunggu on the arm gently.

“No, I didn’t know _anything_ ,” Hyunggu whispered urgently.

“ _Oh_. That’s okay, it’s just to see where we are as a class,” Yuto tried to comfort Hyunggu. “I’m sure you’ll be great once we all start learning the same things.”

“That’s enough talking,” Yin-laoshi shot at them, having settled all of the quizzes on her desk. Both Hyunggu and Yuto looked down shamefully in their best impression of a scolded puppy. Then she turned the mirror above her desk, “Can everyone see what I’m doing? Good, pay close attention as I’ll show you the proper techniques to cut ingredients; what I expect to see when I ask you to use certain knife techniques.”

The remainder of the lecture went by relatively easily. Although Yin-laoshi was strict, she was also easy to understand and made sure that her students understood the concepts she was talking about.

“There will be a quiz at the beginning of every class if we are to brew a potion. Inadequate preparation for the day’s quiz will result in you being asked to leave, study more, and retake it. You will then have to finish the potion on your own time. If you know you’re type to be unprepared… I hope you have a copper cauldron. For Monday’s class please read chapter 2 in your textbooks, _Introductory Potioneering_ ,” she said, dismissing them after the bell rang.

Yuto and Hyunggu packed up their notes. “Wait, what were you saying this morning?” Hyunggu asked, suddenly remembering their conversation before class.

“Uh, about what?” Yuto asked, hoping to play dumb. In fact, over the course of Yin-laoshi’s lecture he decided it would be better to not worry his newest friend or scare him away. After all, hearing random noises that kept you up was not often what made an attractive friend - or so Yuto thought. Even his nightmare full of his own anxieties was probably best swept away. No need to embarrass himself more.

“You said something was bothering you last night,” Hyunggu reminded him as they ascended Seiryuu Tower.

“Oh right. Let’s meet Wooseok for lunch,” Yuto said mysteriously, “I’d rather only say it once so I don’t have to explain it again…”

Hyunggu huffed, but followed Yuto up the steps to the snack bar at the top of Seiryuu Tower. The snack bar was rather similar to the dining hall in Suzaku Tower, but smaller and without the staff table; instead there was an elongated table where students were lining up. Large windows peering out to the spring sector of the school grounds let them see spring in full bloom. There was also a balcony, where Yuto assumed Seiryuu students would take their astronomy lessons. Wooseok had managed to find a table for them, and waved at Hyunggu and Yuto as they entered.

“Good morning!” they greeted Wooseok, sitting down, he nodded back at them in return, clearly as tired as Yuto was. Wooseok had a tray filled to the brim with sandwiches, drinks, and other pastries.

“Apparently you’re supposed to get your food at the long bench over there,” Wooseok said, pointing at it. “I already got some food for us though.”

“Thanks Wooseokkie!” Hyunggu and Yuto said appreciatively, and Wooseok smiled with his eyes.

“It was nothing,” he said quietly, but Yuto could see he preened with the thanks.

“Anyways,” Hyunggu said, taking a sandwich, “Yuto, what happened last night?”

“Something happened last night?” Wooseok interjected, just about to take a bite of his own sandwich.

Yuto waved both of them down. “I… Nothing. I think some other students stayed up after lights out and their talking kept me up.”

Hyunggu raised his eyebrow, “That’s what you were concerned about? Some other kids talking?”

Yuto nodded lamely, “Yeah. I mean, I couldn’t sleep. It was horrible.”

“That’s it?” Hyunggu prodded, an eyebrow raised.

“He told you, so what’s wrong?” Wooseok asked.

“You didn’t hear how important he made it sound before he started downplaying it,” Hyunggu said exasperated.

“I was just tired and irritable earlier,” Yuto dismissed. “I’ll try to sleep earlier tonight.”

Hyunggu made a noise of discontent, “Okay…”

Yuto didn’t think that Hyunggu would leave it alone, but perhaps out of respect for their new friendship or just not knowing how far he could push it, Hyunggu let it slide. For now. Yuto could tell he was bursting to find out the truth behind Yuto’s words. Yuto wished he could forget, as he became acutely aware of the low hum again during the ensuing silence.

Wooseok told them about his calligraphy class, peppering jokes and imitations to try and lighten the mood. After they finished lunch, Yuto and Wooseok went off to Byakko Tower which was inconveniently one of the furthest towers from Seiryuu, bidding Hyunggu bye as he had calligraphy in Seiryuu tower.

With a name like magical biology, Yuto expected a dive right into dragons, or flesh eating plants, or werewolves, or _anything_ cool. However, Zhong-laoshi was a strict-looking teacher who instead bored students with the incredible detail he went into about the simplest things.

The first lecture was dedicated to describing what the goal of magical biology was: the first course in the Wood stream, which was about the natural world, that was to branch into two more specific courses later, herbology and magizoology. Which could be taken after the SNAKE in their 3rd year, given an adequate mark was achieved. It was there to give students the base necessary to tackle either of those courses, given the complex nature of magic affecting the magical world. Thankfully, Wooseok was there to keep Yuto company. The pair passed notes between each other to help the time pass between taking class notes and looking at diagrams.

 _Two hours of this every Thursday? I might die lol,_ Wooseok wrote. Yuto stifled a giggle.

 _It’s only the first lecture, I’m sure it’ll get more interesting…..whenever we learn the interesting stuff lol_. Wooseok grinned back at Yuto.

For Yuto, however, his first day at magical school was perfectly average and exactly what he wanted. If things could stay like this, Yuto would be quite happy.

Yuto had Calligraphy the next morning in Seiryuu tower, the first in their Sun stream, which was about spell work - something that most students were excited to hear about. However, all they did was write and learn kanji for spells.

Yuto, recognizing that although this would be very boring, still worked very hard at learning all the characters in class - after all, they would form the basis of his magical spellcasting ability. Kwan-laoshi was a little flighty and had a mystified quality to her voice as if she were perpetually surprised by something. The classroom smelt faintly of roses and all the desks had ever-filling ink pots on them. 

Elemancy was not exactly as Yuto had imagined it either. Yomogiraku-sensei was a portly older man with a gravelly voice and a full, long, greying beard, unlike other teachers who wore robes he wore a simple muted green yukata. Although his voice was a little rough, he also had a calming aura about him, there was a gentleness about how he carried himself. The Elemancy classroom was a wide dome-like room with curved white walls and filled with young sprouting cherry blossom trees that shed soft leaves.

At the opposite side of the room from the entrance was a handsome oak desk, where Yomogiraku-sensei was sitting, along with a gorgeous clay tea set with many teapots already steaming and many small tea cups.

“Good afternoon, I am Yomogiraku Makoto. My last name is a bit of a mouthful, so you may just Mako, or Mako-sensei if you prefer, as long as it’s not specifically for the sake of calling me Mako. I would like to start by offering you a cup of tea, when I call your name on the register, please come up to my desk and tell me what kind you would like.”

Yomogiraku-sensei began calling names and students walked to the front, tea requests ready. He carefully poured each cup and gently handed it to each student. Yuto asked for green tea.

“Now, this next part may not be favourable to you all, but please sit next to someone who was not chosen by your guardian or is not from the same country as you.”

There was a small murmur of discontent as people moved to follow Yomogiraku-sensei’s instructions, moving to find people they hadn’t talked to before or potentially could not even talk to at all. As soon as Yuto looked up, he had made eye contact with another boy close by who had an azure and black tie - Seiryuu. He had a serene expression and looked quite shy, his bangs reached quite low, Yuto almost couldn’t see his eyes. The other boy nodded, and Yuto picked up his bag and tea to sit next to him.

“Hi,” the boy greeted him softly.

“Hello,” Yuto said. “I’m Adachi Yuto.”

“I’m Danny Im...but I guess here I’m Im Changkyun,” he said. Yuto didn’t quite understand.

“Im Changkyun-ssi, then?” Yuto asked. “Are you Korean?”

“Oh, yeah, but I moved around a lot when I was kid for my dad’s work,” he replied in Korean. “You’re Japanese? Your Korean sounds good.”

Yuto flushed at that, “Thanks, I just started learning…”

“To me 일본어를 Japanese 줄래? Korean 가르쳐 드릴게요.” Changkyun spoke quickly, smiling softly. If only Yuto caught everything he said...

Yuto smiled back, about to speak when Yomogiraku-sensei asked for their attention again.

“Thank you for indulging my request,” he said gently but clearly. “While I am here to instruct you on Wuxing and elemental spells, my main wish is to impart onto you the idea that differences allow us to grow. Students are extremely excited by the fact that the Fire stream is labelled as “harnessing magical power” and its practical uses. I am here to impress upon you the _danger_ of magic, and will be teaching you how to harness your powers safely. “

Yomogiraku surveyed his students, who were mostly on the edge of their seats, even if deflated by the safety part of his lecture. “By staying only with our own guardian, or our own people, we don’t learn about others’ life stories, and we remain rigid and stale. Even your coursework is divided into 7 streams, but if you let some fall to the wayside, you may find yourself imbalanced and incomplete. But by expanding our worldview, by allowing ourselves to become connected with one another, we can grow stronger and achieve balance. Perhaps you don’t know how to connect with people you don’t know; I find a conversation over a nice cup of tea is always a good start. Before our next class, please read chapter 1 of _A Basic Guide to Elemancy_ , or if you’d like to spend your first weekend without school work, at least know the kanji and kitou for the spells in the index of chapter 1.”

Yuto smiled at Changkyun with the intention of talking more, however, he smiled back and then quietly bade Yuto bye before scurrying away after the lecture. Perhaps Changkyun was just shy. Yuto packed up the rest of his things, as everyone else filed out of the class, taking his and Changkyun’s empty tea cups up to the front of class, where Yomogiraku-sensei was also packing up.

“Where should I put them, Yomogiraku-sensei?” he asked timidly, acutely aware he was the only one left in the class.

“Ah, Adachi-kun, was it?” he asked, gently taking the two cups and placing them on the oak desk, “Very considerate of you, I was just going to vanish them all.”

“Oh,” Yuto said simply, his cheeks burning with embarrassment.

Yomogiraku-sensei chuckled heartily, surveying him carefully. “There’s no need to be embarrassed, Adachi-kun. It’s a good thing to be considerate; I hope you don’t lose it as you grow up,” he said sagely.

Yuto nodded and bowed awkwardly, “T-thank you. I… will be off now.”

“Have a good day,” Yomogiraku dismissed him nicely.

Yuto’s Saturday was filled with language classes and after that Hyunggu insisted they get a head start on their homework. He felt like he hardly had time to breathe between learning Korean Hangul, the traditional Chinese characters, writing his history essay, and the other various assigned readings from the first two days of classes. Wooseok on the other hand seemed very content with relaxing on their first weekend while Hyunggu and Yuto poured over their schoolwork.

They were currently in Genbu’s common room, which had a lot of cool colours, blue and black armchairs, and one of the walls had a whole waterfall, the water sounds allegedly were to calm the students and block out external noises. It smelt like a breezy day at the beach although they could see onto the snowy grounds of the northern winter sector through the window. Yuto had his history paper open, while Hyunggu was reading _Introductory Potioneering_.

“It’s Saturday, can’t we explore the school grounds?” Wooseok whined, his copy of _Introductory Potioneering_ was also open, but he had yet to write anything down or look at it since he had opened it. “We won’t be allowed to go and explore after dinner.”

“You can go explore,” Hyunggu said absently, eyes zooming back and forth as he read, “But we were sent here to work hard, not goof off.”

Yuto nodded solemnly, although he too would like to explore. If he were to spend the next six years of his life here, he would at least like to know the in’s and out’s of Wuxia.

“It’s only the first weekend,” Wooseok pouted. “It’s not fun to go alone.”

“We have all day tomorrow to work,” Yuto added in a small voice, closing his book. “Maybe we should take a break, there’s no need to overwork ourselves this early in the school term, Hyunggu-yah.”

Wooseok nodded appreciatively at Yuto and turned his best puppy dog eyes to Hyunggu, even though he was taller, his baby face was definitely helping his case. Hyunggu did not miss that Yuto called him Hyunggu-yah and raised an eyebrow.

Hyunggu looked up from his book at Wooseok and Yuto, sighed and closed his books as well, “I guess you’re right. We can study more later. Let’s go explore.” 

Wooseok cheered as they packed up. Donning winter jackets over their school uniforms, they exited the double doors of Genbu tower, greeted by the crunch of snow beneath their feet. Tall pine trees stretched as tall as they could to reach the sky, snow adorning every branch. Pairs of pillared lamps containing blue flames lit the path they flanked.

“It’s snowing!” Yuto cheered as they trotted onto the grounds. The snow was light and fresh, snowflakes dropped down at a slow pace, glistening in the sun’s rays. “It’s so pretty!”

“Does it snow where you live, Yuto-kun?” Hyunggu asked, similarly in awe of the snow.

“Yeah, sometimes it snows in Nagano, but it doesn’t get _that_ cold. And it’s April right now, we’ve never gotten snow this late. What about you guys?”

“Yeah, Seongnam has very distinct 4 seasons. Snow is fun until you have to clean up after it. What about you, Wooseok? Wooseok?” Hyunggu and Yuto turned to look at Wooseok, but could only see white as Wooseok shoved snowballs in their faces. “Yah! Wooseok-ah!”

“Yeah, it snows where I’m from,” Wooseok laughed mischievously, backing up and hiding behind one of the stone pillars, the ghostly blue fire hiding him.

Hyunggu huffed, wiping snow off of his face before leaning down to roll snow into a snowball of his own, “You’re gonna pay!”

Wooseok dodged Hyunggu’s snowball, still laughing, “C’mon I was only joking!”

“Then come out from hiding! I wanna joke with you too!” Hyunggu cried as he lobbed another snowball. Yuto laughed as the pair chased each other, throwing snowballs, before joining in himself. The snowball fight left them all red faced and sweaty, but their laughter kept them going through the cold.

As the three of them laughed and played until the cold air stung their lungs, Yuto thought maybe boarding here wouldn’t be so bad after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this chapter is a bit short, I didn't want to throw more exposition at you alskdjLKSAJDLA there was already so much since I went through a bunch of classes (not all of them yet though askjdals)
> 
> As a reminder, -sensei, -laoshi, and -seonsaeng, all mean the same thing (teacher), and I will use the one from the language that teacher primarily uses.  
> 分配 - bunpai, distribute.  
> 召喚 - shoukan, collect, recall.
> 
> Changed details:
> 
> I've more formally integrated the magic and non-magic world. They're aware of each other and use each other's technologies and abilities (cars and shamans, for example), but the magical community also prefers to not let in non-magical people for their safety (or so they say). After all, when there's a power imbalance, someone is bound to abuse it.  
> Brushes are the main magical instrument used by magical people in east Asia, and there is no inner core; there are other wands and staves, but they are viewed as niche or specialized compared to a brush which is more versatile. Side-plot of wands vs brushes has been dropped entirely (it would've returned later).  
> Tooru and Hajime attend(ed) a magical academy called Tsuruga, which is the best magic academy in Nagano, rather than a boarding school for all magical Japanese students. Yuto and Akari were also accepted to Tsuruga, but their parents declined and sent them to Wuxia. Hajime was accepted by Ryuumon University, to study onmyodo.  
> The Adachis use something called a teleportation glyph to go through the glyph network to arrive at Takahama Beach House, rather than the floo network. Glyphs will be expanded upon in the future.  
> I've created the magical sport Kishisenmei to replace whatever I was going to use quidditch for, which will receive a more detailed explanation later.  
> The courses at Wuxia are divided into 7 "streams" which represents elements used in their names of the week (Sun, Moon, Fire, Water, Wood, Metal, and Earth), as seen and explained in this chapter.
> 
> I believe those are most of the main changes I made! I've made a few others regarding small details, but I think I've gone on long enough alskdjlaskj
> 
> Thank you for reading and making it this far! I hope to get back onto a regular monthly schedule, but. We shall see.


	6. Incongruity

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HAPPY BIRTHDAY YUTO ADACHI!!!!!!! I love him <3 And happy early birthday to Hyunggu and Wooseok as well! Mayonnaise-fighting!!!!!
> 
> I know it's like already passed in Korea, but where I am it's just turned Jan 23rd!

Despite what Yuto had told Hyunggu, he had not gotten any good nights of sleep. The low mysterious hum and ethereal voice beckoning to him kept him awake nightly. The euphoria of finally learning magic had been keeping him going through his first couple of days at school, but now he was finally beginning to crash from the lack of actual sleep. Sunday morning came and he was feeling even more irritable and exhausted than he could ever remember in his life, as he experienced his fourth sleepless night in a row.

“Are you okay?” Wooseok asked, surprised, in lieu of a proper greeting, as Yuto sat down next to Hyunggu on Sunday morning. “You look like you didn’t sleep at all.”

“I didn’t,” Yuto reaffirmed blandly, disliking the concern he elicited.

“Because other people were talking?” Hyunggu asked kindly, also eyeing the dark bags underneath Yuto’s eyes.

Akari saved Yuto the need to respond by approaching their table and placing three sealed letters on the table perhaps more forcefully than she intended. “They’re for you,” she said curtly, her eyes flicking to look at Yuto and his friends. “Set up your own glyph soon. I’m not your personal message delivery system.”

“Thanks. Good morning to you too,” Yuto added irritably, looking at the letters. One was from his parents, one from Hajime, and one from Tooru.

She seemed taken aback for a moment at Yuto’s attitude, but continued anyway, “You know our address, right? So you can write it onto your glyph? I don’t need mom writing to me to set up your glyph for you.”

“Yes, I know our address.” Without further ado, she turned abruptly and swept away from their table.

“She’s friendly. Was that your sister?” Wooseok asked.

“Yes,” Yuto said tersely, opening one of the letters.

“What’s this _glyph_ she’s talking about?” Hyunggu asked, moreso to Wooseok than Yuto, noticing the change in his demeanor.

“A glyph is like… a rune you infuse with magic and it does what you want it to. It’s like a spell but more permanent or stronger,” Yuto explained idly, reading the letters from his parents and brothers.

“Most people use it for convenience. There’s something called the “glyph network” which is just like a mass of magical energy that you can connect your glyph to and transfer things to another glyph, including people,” Wooseok continued as Yuto stalled speaking to continue reading.

“Oh, so the glyph network is like the internet but with materials, instead of sending data,” Hyunggu concluded. “Wait, you can send people through glyphs? Why did we have to travel for hours on a boat if we could just teleport in?”

“I don’t think it’s very safe for the students if people were able to just wander into schools through the glyph network,” Wooseok said. “And think of how many kids there are! The glyph to accept us all would be huge!”

Hyunggu nodded understandingly. “Would it be possible to set up a glyph for my parents to use? I bet my sister, Minju, would probably like to send me letters and hear about magic as well.”

Wooseok made a thoughtful face, eating a spoonful of rice before responding, “Maybe ask your head teacher, I’m sure they’ve dealt with this kind of stuff before. For now, you’ll probably want to write to them the non-magical way.”

“Is there even a non-magical way out of here…” Hyunggu wondered. The two of them continued on this train for some time, while Yuto was preoccupied reading the letters. Yuto sped through reading each letter, then carefully folded the letters to stow it away in his inner jacket pocket. 

“Do you want to talk about it?” Hyunggu asked kindly, clearly referencing Yuto’s sleep, placing a gentle hand onto Yuto’s wrist when he put the letters away.

Yuto shook his head, afraid of what might come out if he spoke. “Sorry,” he muttered. “I’ll go back to bed after this and hopefully meet you back for lunch.”

“Okay,” Hyunggu reaffirmed softly.

Yuto trudged back to his dorm after they finished breakfast. Hyunggu said they’d be studying in Suzaku tower whenever Yuto woke up and would like to join them.

Writing his name in front of the door with the 1 in front of it, Yuto breathed deep as he pushed open the door to his dorm room again, hopeful that he may be tired enough to just _sleep_.

The room was empty, and all the beds had been made, except for one. Hyungwon, was it? He was still sleeping in his bed.

The sounds of Yuto entering seemed to have awoken him, as he began stirring while Yuto took off his shoes. He peered above the barrier of his blankets, his hair flopping in every direction, looking at who had entered his dorm room.

“Mornin’,” Yuto lazily threw at him, Hyungwon nodded in return.

“What time is it?” Hyungwon’s words came out slurred and sleepy, although he did not sit up.

“It’s 10:30,” Yuto supplied, climbing under his own blankets.

Hyungwon made a noise indicating he heard Yuto, then his soft snores returned to fill the silence in the room. Yuto took another deep breath, wishing for sleep to take him as easily as it seemed it did with Hyungwon. Head softly against his pillow and eyes tightly shut, his anxiety spiked when he realized the low hum had returned to bother him. He turned completely on his side, hoping to block some of the hum from at least one ear, frustratingly to no avail.

Yuto simply lay there, vaguely aware of all the going ons around him, but desperately trying to feign himself into sleep. Yanan, Daisuke, and Saki all returned at various points of the day to retrieve things or rest themselves, even Hyungwon had left to begin his day. Yet, Yuto did not experience a single second of sleep. Light had begun to wane around Wuxia, and with his stomach grumbling, Yuto trudged his way back to Suzaku tower for dinner.

Yuto was surprised to see a girl with long braided hair sitting across from Wooseok and Hyunggu. She had a flower pinning back her bangs, and a star sticker under her eye opposite a beauty mark on her other eye.

“Hi, I’m Kim Hyunah,” the girl said brightly in Japanese, smiling kindly at Yuto when he approached; they bowed at each other quickly.

“I’m Adachi Yuto.”

“She’s nuna’s friend who helped us with our homework earlier in Suzaku tower,” Wooseok said.

“She wanted to meet you,” Hyunggu supplied, at Yuto’s questioning look

Yuto sat next to her. “Oh. Why did you want to meet me?”

“I heard from Hyunggu-yah and Wooseok-ah, you’ve been having trouble sleeping, and I thought I could help!” she replied.

“Oh,” Yuto said startled, “That’s very nice of you. But I think I’ll be okay.”

“Did you sleep?” Hyunggu’s question was rhetorical - anyone with eyes could see that Yuto’s bags were worse than this morning.

Yuto crossed his arms, idly scratching his forearm in embarrassment. “No…”

“Hey, it’s okay. Nobody’s judging you for anything. Your friends are just concerned is all,” Hyunah said softly. A warmth bloomed in Yuto’s chest as he looked at the bashful smiles across Wooseok and Hyunggu’s face. “I’m a pretty good potioneer; I study under Kwan-laoshi.”

“Isn’t she the calligraphy teacher?” Yuto asked, an eyebrow raised.

“She knows about lots of things! Potions, calligraphy, barriers, all sorts of magic; she’s also my representative teacher in Seiryuu, so it was pretty easy to transition into her mentoring me in a bunch of stuff,” Hyunah explained. “I’m actually studying mostly about barriers, but you know, my SNAKEs are this year, so it doesn’t hurt to get extra help for the core streams.”

“Oh, I’m sorry to have distracted you,” Yuto said shamefully.

“It’s the first weekend, Adachi-kun, there wasn’t much to study. Anyways,” Hyunah continued, placing a tall and thin thermos on the table and pushing it towards Yuto, “I made this.”

“What is it? Is it safe?” Yuto asked gingerly, bringing it close to him.

“Yes it’s safe, I made it with ingredients available to third year students. It’s a sleeping potion,” Hyunah said patiently. “Drink a mouthful 30 minutes before you want to sleep and you should have a peaceful, restful sleep.”

Yuto opened the thermos, a light purple steam wafted out followed by the smell of passionfruit, then he closed it. “Thank you,” he said in a small voice. “You must have made it today?”

Hyunah nodded. “There isn’t a lot because I wanted the lavender to cook down properly, but it should last you for a few weeks. It’s dangerous to take it all the time, so try your best to take it every other day, but of course sometimes you just need to sleep. Hopefully you won’t need another dosage.”

“I-I don’t know how to repay you.”

"Anything for friend's family," Hyunah smiled wide. "I know it can be scary talking to the teachers, so let me know if I can help with anything else!"

"I really, really don't know how else to say thank you," Yuto stammered, overwhelmed by her kindness.

Hyunah stood up now. “It’s okay. I used it with school ingredients, so you don’t owe me materials or anything. Get some sleep and maybe your friends won’t ask anyone willing to listen for help.”

“Thank you so much,” Yuto said genuinely, standing up abruptly to bow 90 degrees at her.

Hyunah blushed, “Thank me after you’ve rested. Anyways, I should go. See you later.”

“She left in a hurry,” Wooseok observed as she quickly left, with Yuto sitting down again.

“I think she was embarrassed,” Hyunggu said.

“Sorry to have worried you both so much,” Yuto said abruptly. “You didn’t have to say anything to anyone about it.”

Hyunggu nodded with a small smile on his face. “I hope it helps.”

“Me too,” Yuto said, idly playing with the thermos. “Maybe I should ask Hyunah to teach me how to make the potion too, so I don’t have to bother her for it in the future.”

“I don’t think you should rely on it to sleep,” Wooseok said seriously. “It can be a slippery slope and you might end up needing stronger and stronger sleeping draughts.”

“You need to figure out whatever is causing you to not sleep,” Hyunggu agreed.

Yuto made a non-committal noise and nodded, but didn’t say anything else. The rest of dinner went by smoothly and Yuto was rather eager to finally get some sleep. He bade Hyunggu and Wooseok good night, ignoring their concerned looks.

Yuto was the first one back to their dorm room. He discretely opened the thermos to take a mouthful of the sleeping draught. It was… fruity and sweeter than he imagined. He closed the lid tightly, stowing it into his suitcase, and quickly got ready for bed, unsure of what would happen after the 30 minutes elapsed.

Hyungwon and Saki soon came back to their dorm as Yuto finished brushing his teeth. He had steadily felt more and more drowsy as he had gotten ready for bed, and was feeling good about the sleeping draught.

“Good night!” Yuto happily chirped at them, climbing into bed, pulling the blankets tight around him. Although the others still had the lights on, Yuto closed his eyes tightly, hoping that soon he could feel the relief of rest.

“ _Come to me_.” The ethereal voice pierced through his drowsy haze sharply causing Yuto a bout of lucidity. Yuto closed his eyes tighter, waiting with bated breath, ignoring it - he had felt so close to sleep. The hum buzzed in his ear again, although Yuto was drifting in and out of consciousness - however turbulently it came, Yuto managed to finally sleep.

The next morning, Yuto woke early for Kirin’s Astronomy lecture. He _woke._ That meant that he _rested!_ Yuto held back his excitement at having finally slept, although he still felt tired - perhaps a side effect of the draught? Or that he hadn’t fully rested up? Either way, he got ready for the day.

Astronomy had two phases: a lecture early in the morning at the top of your guardian’s tower, and later that same night they would observe the stars through telescopes and other magical techniques to magnify and observe the stars. Yuto was always fascinated with the stars when he was a kid, so it was pretty cool to be learning about them in depth finally - although he had a hard time remembering that Pluto was in fact not a planet in the solar system.

As with the other towers, the top of Kirin tower also doubled as a snack bar, so the lesson took place on the balcony. Yuto sat alone at one of the circular tables, so close to nodding off and catching a few seconds of rest again.

“Good morning,” a pretty girl with a bob cut greeted him in Japanese brightly, “Do you mind if I sit here?”

“Good morning,” he yawned, shaking his head and gesturing for her to sit in a chair.

“I’m Jang Yeeun, and you?” she introduced herself, putting down her school bag.

“Adachi Yuto,” he responded, his eyes closing and opening, resisting the urge to say _I'm still tired_.

Yeeun giggled to herself something that sounded like _boys_ , when she motioned for another girl to come and sit with them. “This is my friend, Elkie! I hope you don’t mind if she sits with us,” Yeeun said.

Yuto shook his head, “I don’t mind. Hi, I’m Adachi Yuto.”

“Good morning! I’m Elkie,” she said in Korean, sitting down as well. Thankfully for Yuto, Yeeun and Elkie seemed to ignore him in their conversation, as he nodded off before the start of lecture.

A stout wizard with a thin moustache walked onto the balcony, wheeling in a whiteboard with him. Yeeun gently shook Yuto awake. Blearily he looked around and tried to look alert with his notes. “Good morning, I hope you all had a good first weekend and are refreshed for this week’s learning. My name is Dong Wei Xing and I will be your Astronomy teacher. This is your first class in the Moon stream, which will deal with celestial and heavenly bodies. Humans have been concerned with divining meaning from the stars and heavens since the dawn of time, and wizards are no different.”

Dong-laoshi wrote 授業 on the whiteboard with his brush, which shimmered and then faded, causing the whiteboard marker to begin drawing the moon in its 8 phases. “I will begin with the description of wizarding time. While magunai use a standardized 24-hour clock, wizards have divided the day into 4 quarters, similar to phases of the moon; the lengths of these quarters changes on a day to day basis depending on the season. Perhaps calling them quarters is a bit disingenuous, as they are not equivalent lengths of time. Nevertheless, they are: Waxing Quarter to represent dawn, Full Quarter to represent day, Waning Quarter to represent dusk, and the New Quarter to represent night. The magunai notion of the “Witching Hour” takes place as the waning quarter is replaced with the new quarter. Magic _can_ be amplified during the Witching Hour, but not necessarily so. Wizarding watches and clocks have 4 stars on them, each to represent a specific time of day and each star will move along the face to tell you how far along into the quarter you are. Although most modern ones include the 24 hour clock as people tend to like a little consistency.”

Yeeun snickered at Dong-laoshi’s joke while Elkie wrote all of this diligently in her notebook. Yuto slumped down into his arms, eyes closing… the lecture filtering out of his ears...

"If you do not have practise reading magical clock faces I have worksheets that you can pick up after class."

Yeeun shook Yuto again. Yuto looked around with blurred vision, rubbing his eyes before realizing that Dong-laoshi was standing beside their table, glaring at him. Elkie giggled into her notes, eyes enraptured with the scene.

"Ah, you're awake. I wouldn't have wanted to disturb your sleep, Mr…?"

"Adachi," Yuto supplied, having the decency to look ashamed as his ears burned.

"Well, Mr. Adachi," Dong-laoshi said scathingly, "You will do well to note that your class time is for _learning_ , not sleeping. Did you not get enough sleep on the weekend? Partying too hard already? In your first year already."

Yuto bit his tongue. "I'm sorry, laoshi," Yuto said.

"Detention, I think," he said severely. Shame burned through Yuto's core. Elkie and Yeeun both looked shocked, exchanging looks.

"But laoshi, Lu Tian has also nodded off," Elkie responded, pointing at the table behind Dong-laoshi.

Tian Lu was in fact snoring on his notes. Dong-laoshi looked over at Tian Lu, sized up Yuto, who was doing his best to look remorseful, then walked over to Tian Lu.

"Mr. Lu," Dong-laoshi rapped on the table with his brush.

Tian Lu also began stirring awake. "Mornin' teach," he said with a lopsided grin.

"Good morning," Dong-laoshi said with narrowed eyes. "Class is for learning, not sleeping. You will do well to not sleep during my lecture again."

He then swiftly turned on the spot and continued his lecture. It clicked in Yuto's mind: this was what Kihyun was talking about.

Yeeun looked indignant and was about to open her mouth to say something when Yuto shot her a concerned look and shook his head. "It's okay," he whispered. Yeeun looked like it very well _wasn't_ okay, but that made Yuto feel all the better, replacing the shame he felt earlier. "Thanks."

The bell for breakfast rang, and Dong-laoshi wrapped up his lecture, reminding them all that the second phase of Astronomy would start immediately after the new quarter. Then he walked up to Yuto to tell him his detention would begin in his office at the same time as the start of the waning quarter and last until the second phase of astronomy.

"It's not fair," Yeeun said as they descended the stairs of Kirin tower towards Byakko tower for Magical Science out of earshot of Dong-laoshi. "Lu Tian was worse than you and he hardly got admonished."

Elkie nodded solemnly. Yuto felt warm and his heart constricted, "It's alright, my fault really, for falling asleep. I could've gotten something from the snack bar before class, it's right there after all."

"No," Yeeun said flatly. "He's blatantly biased against you."

"And way too harsh for the first week, I mean, detention? Really?" Elkie added. 

"Maybe he just wanted to make an example of Adachi-san. You know, first impressions and all," Yeeun suggested.

"And then also letting Lu Tian off the hook in the same breath?"

Yuto took a bite of a custard bun, feeling worse for wear as Yeeun and Elkie continued to complain on his behalf all the way up Byakko Tower. He truly appreciated it, but it felt misplaced at the same time.

When they found the classroom designated on their timetables they had immediately stopped talking - there was an air of mystery in the room and everyone in the classroom sat around mystified. Sunlight hit the dust in the air giving the room the distinct look of taking place in a mystical space. The walls, similarly to Miyamori-sensei’s office, were adorned with images of proper brushwork and other glyphs. The air was charged with a certain positive energy that Yuto couldn't quite place. Yeeun tugged on Elkie’s sleeve and pointed at the front of the room. Elkie looked up, then looked back at Yeeun with a breathy gasp and they shared a giggle before sitting down.

An elegant, handsome yet cavalier looking man in a crimson-striped waistcoat sat at the front of the classroom reading a heavy tome. “Welcome to Magical Science, Byakko and Kirin students. My name is Zhang Zhu Ah, I know this will be confusing to international students because my name is very close to Zhong-laoshi, I hope you will become accustomed to it over time,” he said with a bored voice.

“Now, this is the first of your Earth courses, which is all about the laws of magic. How magic can be used, what it can and can’t do. What we know and don’t know about magic. You may have noticed that throughout your first couple of days at Wuxia that something has been critically absent in your lessons: casting spells. I presume even Yin-laoshi has not made you brew anything yet.” There was a murmur of agreement amongst the students, some who had noticed and others who hadn’t. “It is the desire of Headmistress Haruta that before you begin practical training, you understand the theory and safety when using magic previously contained to just this course. So, let’s begin.”

Despite his bored voice earlier, Zhang-laoshi easily launched into a dynamic lecture about spell casting. There were two critical parts to every spell, the written portion, _kanji_ , and the spoken portion, _kitou_. Both were necessary for the desired effect to go off, but it was possible to only use one or the other if a person had enough magical prowess or if the spell was “weak” enough in desired intent. “It is my recommendation, if you are not a native Mandarin speaker, and even if you are a Mandarin speaker you may want to consider learning the Japanese kitou for almost all spells. It is much more practical as magic will require the proper tonal Mandarin pronunciation to activate, lest you want your summons of pandas to produce chest hair instead.”

The class ended so abruptly that many students were still writing the remainders of the lesson into their notes as the bell rang. Zhang-laoshi dismissed them classily and returned to reading his tome.

Yeeun and Elkie simply smiled at each other the whole time, in a daze as the three of them walked to Seiryuu tower for Potions. Yuto spotted Hyunggu, waving at him to join the three of them.

“Good morning,” Yuto greeted him, introducing Yeeun and Elkie to Hyunggu.

“Hi, good morning! Sleep well?” Hyunggu added in a low voice.

Yuto nodded, “Perhaps too well. I was still sleepy during my Astronomy lecture this morning.”

Tian Lu interrupted them by sneering and saying _something_ mockingly in Mandarin from across the hallway.

Elkie coolly responded in kind, causing other students around to laugh behind their hands.

Just as Tian was about to say something back, the door to the potions lab opened and Yin-laoshi beckoned them inside.

"What did he say?" Yuto asked Elkie as they sat down.

"He was mocking you for sleeping in class," Elkie said, then she smirked, "I told him his snores could wake all of China."

Yuto smiled, "Thanks."

However, in the back of his mind, Yuto idly wondered what Tian Lu's problem with him was. Either way, it could not diminish Yuto's joy at being able to enjoy his learning experience.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 授業 - jyugyou, means lesson/class  
> 漢字 - kanji, Chinese character  
> 祈祷 - kitou, "prayer" I'm using it to mean incantation
> 
> 熊猫 xióng māo vs 胸毛 xiōng máo the panda/chest hair joke is because they phonetically sound the same, but have different tones.
> 
> I wanted to post this on his birthday bc i'm not sure it'll ever line up again like this! So!!!!!! Y'alls get it a week early!! Thank you so much for keeping with me on this journey! I promise we'll get into some real plot soon alsjdalksjd
> 
> Lemme know if there's any errors, it's unbeta'd!

**Author's Note:**

> Leave a comment and let me know what you think!
> 
> [ Black Lives Matter ](https://blacklivesmatters.carrd.co/)  
> [ Free Hong Kong ](https://standwithhongkong.carrd.co/)  
> [ GenderedIntelligence ](https://http://genderedintelligence.co.uk//)
> 
> Because it bears further repeating: FUCK JOANNE ROWLING. I am not working with her, I am not associated with her, and I absolutely detest her, especially regarding her transphobia, racism, and antisemitism. I understand that for more people it's probably hard to associate HP with anything other than JKR, but HP will always be a story of overcoming obstacles and deciding your own fate for me. I am in no way trying to honour JKR or her works, and that I am writing my own story and simply used her work as a spring board.


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